Bat
by Bat13SJx
Summary: A sixteen year old girl is turned into a monster after a horrible accident. She doesn't remember how she got turned into a monster, but now finds herself dealing with her new life as an unwanted freak in a secret underground facility with other monsters; isolated from her friends and family. This is Bat's story on her life as a teenage monster. (My first Fanfic revised)
1. Prologue

Bat (An M.V.A. story)

By Bat13SJx

 **This story was my first ever Fan Fiction story, also in the Monsters Vs. Aliens universe; also my first O.C. that was created back in 2009. I am rewriting my first fanfic because for one thing, my writing skills sucked when I was in middle school; and I thought it would be fun to come back to the MvA world that first started my journey through the fan-fiction universe. So, without further ado, I give you a revision of my first fanfic. I hope you enjoy:**

 _Prologue_

...

Name: Classified

Monster name: Bat

Captured: May 30, 2009

Age: 16

Sex: Female

Race: Caucasian/American

Hair: Dark brown

Height: 5'4"

Weight: 130lbs

Skin: White

Eyes: Yellow with black slits (cat-like)

Monster type: Vampire? vampire bat? (unknown)

Special abilities/features: bat features (ears, wings, and fangs. eyes: unknown)

...

 _My name is Bat...My real name has been classified for the safety of my friends and family...I am a monster. A real monster. Not those ones you see in the movies. An actual monster. I never always was a monster. I was once a human being..._ _I don't remember how I became a monster...though...I keep having this nightmare, every night. It always starts the same, and ends the same way:_

 _I'm outside, looking out over a cliff towards the dark sea. It's pitch black with only a full moon to light up the sky, and no stars to accompany it. I stand near a gnarled black, leafless tree with twisted limbs and branches. I peer down the cliff side. It seems to be about a hundred or so feet down. I look further down below and see the sharp jagged rocks jutting out from the sands; like teeth. I remember hearing the sounds of the waves filling my ears, and the smell of the ocean._

 _Suddenly, I am attacked by something I can't see. All I see are fast streaks of darkness surrounding me. Pain courses through my body. I think I am being attacked by the darkness that surrounds me...It feels like I am in any case. I try to scream, but I feel very weak in the dream, and my legs begin to feel numb. The next thing I know, I am falling. My body is frozen stiff in fear as I fall. The sharp jagged rocks are coming closer and closer towards me. I feel the cold wind blowing through my hair._

 _The dream begins to slow down a bit, as if everything is moving in slow motion as I fall along the cliff side. I feel a strange itching feeling on my back. It grows and grows till it begins to hurt. I ache and cry out as I feel the skin from my back rip and tear till I feel something unfurl from my back._

 _It felt like I had two blankets flapping behind me; fused to my skin. That's when I realize that they were wings. Big, light brown, leathery bat wings. They unfurl and catch in the freezing cold winds. I feel the cold from the wings, and when I move my arms, the wings move as well; like another pair of arms. I flapped them fast, and the cold rush of air gradually left. I hovered for a while in the air, just over the jagged rocks. I faltered a little in the air, then begin to come down again in a awkward, ungraceful landing_

 _I moved along till I was clear away from the jagged rocks, before my brand new wings gave in and I fell ten feet into the moonlit sand. I collapse in exhaustion and pain sunny side down. I began to cry and breathe heavily. My whole body shaking as the wings slowly fluttered down and wrapped around me like a blanket. My whole body feels different. A strange feeling flowed through me, and I began to change. My hearing heightened to where I could hear everything around me. Every single little thing, sharp and crystal clear. When I opened my eyes, my sight had changed as well. The night world was as clear as day._

 _I hear sirens going off and a lot of lights blinding me. I hear the sound of wheels crunching against the sand, coming closer and closer towards me. Surrounding me. I curl into a ball from the blinding light and loud noises. I guesstimate about twenty cars surrounding me, and a helicopter high in the sky. The blades slicing the air and rustling my hair._

 _My eyes shut from the harsh light and I place my hands over my ears. Where my ears are supposed to be, they are gone and are replaced with big furry ears atop my head. I hear shouts as a net is tossed over me then the darkness swells up and the darkness engulfs me...and then I wake up..._

 _Since then, I have woken up as a monster. Most of my memories lost, so many questions unanswered..._

 _This story is about me. The true story of my life as a monster, and the times I spent as a monster...Let me take you to the beginning...the very beginning of my story...as Bat..._

 _..._


	2. Chapter 1: Monsters

Chapter 1: Monsters.

I woke up to the sound of beeping. I shifted on my bed. My alarm from my phone was going off. It was time to get up and go to school. I am a sophomore at Battrick High, and if I didn't get up and get dressed, I was going to be late for my first class. I sighed as I rose from my bed and groggily got up and began to walk over towards the direction of my dresser. I stretched my arm out to blindly feel for the dresser and the top handle to open the drawer up. Instead of feeling the cold metal handle of my dresser, I felt my hand hit against a wall suddenly; causing me to stop in my tracks and open my eyes. My eyes widened in horror when I realized that I wasn't in my room, and the sound I heard wasn't my alarm.

I wasn't wearing my usual Nightmare Before Christmas pajamas, but was wearing my usual attire: Black skinny jeans, black sneakers with white laces, my black leather finger-less gloves, and my grey shirt with my red symbol on the front. A non smiling smiley face with fangs, and words in red reading: 'I Don't Suck.'

A flash of red light illuminated the room I was in. It was a small grey room with a cot bed. The red light blinked again. I instinctively covered my hands over my ears from the beeping sound as it rang loudly. As soon as I did, I didn't feel my normal human ears. It was as if they disappeared completely. I lifted my hands up above my head and felt two strange triangular ears that felt furry, and immediately pulled my hands away in alarm. Before I could do anything, the bed I was resting on disappeared into the wall. Then the beeping and red flashing light stopped and the whole room began to shake and immediately began to move down.

I cried out in fear as I lost my balance and fell to the floor. My whole body trembled as I tried getting up, but the speed of the room falling and the instant feeling of me getting nauseous kept me from doing so. I gathered my thoughts and came to the conclusion that I was in an elevator going down.

Finally, the elevator came to a sudden stop. The wall in front of me opened and showed a place that looked to be a ginormous room that could hold a hundred football fields and a ceiling that could could put any skyscraper to shame. In the middle of the massive room stood a huge table big enough for Godzilla and a normal sized table for normal human sized people. The lights that lit up the room started to sting my eyes. I hesitated before turning away and staring back into the dark room I had woken from.

Right when I almost reached to the back of the dark room, the wall began to slide towards me, causing me to jump in surprise. I took a couple steps back. The back wall continued to advance towards me. I quickened my pace, then tripped over my own feet and fell. I cried out when I landed on what at first I thought was one of my arms, then realized it was neither of my arms, but something that was attached to my back that was connected to me.

The wall brushed up against my legs and stopped. The room was gone. I stared at the wall for a moment, shaking in total terror. Then the questions began to come at a rapid speed through my brain. So many emotions swam through me all at once. Tears rolled down my face. I was in a strange place I didn't recognize. I couldn't remember how I got here or what happened before. Why was I here? What happened to me?

I felt something touch my shoulder. I jumped and moved away. No one was there. I shifted my eyes, then saw something move near me. I looked up and saw part of a wing over my head. I turned my head and found myself looking at a pair of massive wings jutting out from my back. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. I had wings. Bat wings.

How did I get these bat wings? Where was I? Why was I here? Who did this to me? What was going to happen to me? Where were my parents? My sister? My friends? Will I ever see them again?

The confused, mixed emotions got the best of me. I pulled my legs up to my chest; burying my face into my knees. I sobbed softly. My shoulders moved up and down.

Suddenly I heard a noise over to the far left. Part of the wall on the other side was opening up. I pulled my wings close to me and pressed them against my back. I felt my ears suddenly pin down against the back of my head. The sudden ability to move my new wings and ears felt so weird to me, but at the same time almost easy, as if I was waving a hand or moving my arms. The reflex and nerves in them were still very slow and didn't have a lot of muscle in them to move as fast as my normal ligaments.

Out from the opening in the wall, four creatures came walking out at once. My eyes widened in horror, and I gasped at the sight of them. Monsters. They were monsters. One was a blue blob with an eyeball, the other one was a human who had a huge insect like head and wore a white coat, the other one was fish-like, almost like a gorilla except with scales, and the other one was a woman as tall as a building. I watched them in fear, not being able to take my eyes from them. They looked around the room till they spotted me. I stiffened and had the instant urge to run, but stayed frozen in my little shadowed corner.

"Ah, this must be our new monster," the one with the insect head said as he began to walk towards me. The one with the insect head had a British accent. When he got closer, I noticed that his huge eyes were hazel and he wore brown plaid pants as well. I shrank further down, wishing I could disappear, or at least run, but I was stuck to my spot, like a scared animal.

The other monsters joined the bug man and began to follow suit.

"I hope the new monster is something cool, like a mummy or a wolf-man..." the fish thing spoke as he squinted his eyes at me from where he was. "It has big ears...please be some sort of wolf-man," he prayed. My eyes shifted over to the fish monster. The fish creature had fins running down his back. He walked on all fours like an ape or a gorilla and had scales and fins like a fish, he even had a fish tail.

The blue blob moved along next to the fish thing. The blue thing looked like The Blob, except it wasn't pink, this blob had a giant eyeball in the center and it also had a mouth. It had a male voice, and every time it moved, the eye would move in the gel like mass of its body. "I dunno. Doesn't look like a wolf-man to me...looks huge, and white, and flat..."

The fish-ape sighed. "That's the wall, Bob, I'm talking about the monster in front of the wall," he said as he pointed to me. The massive blue blob, now named Bob, blinked and focused his eye onto me. "Oh!" he said when he finally noticed me, then he laughed a heavy deep laugh. "Sorry. I seriously thought we were walking over to the wall for some reason," he admitted.

Behind them, stood the towering woman. The giant lady was about as tall as a fifty story building. She had white hair and wore a black shirt and black pants with orange trim. In one big step she would have reached me where I was sitting, but she seemed to want to wait till the other monsters moved out of the way so she could come over next.

I remained sitting once the three male monsters came up to me, but thankfully stayed a good distance away. The blue blob began to come up to me, but the fish thing quickly placed his arm in front of him to keep him from getting any closer. "You don't want to scare it, Bob," The fish ape said to the blob.

My bat ears went back in fear. I could feel my wings going numb as they stayed pressed between the wall and my back. I squinted a bit and started to breathe fast. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what the monsters were going to do with me as they stood, staring down at me. I felt the tears welling up again and quickly buried my face into my knees.

My ears flicked when one of the monsters spoke up. "It's allright, my dear. We are not here to hurt you," I heard the voice say. "Why don't you come out into the light?" he asked. "I-I can't," I stuttered. "M-my eyes are s-sensitive to the l-light," I said.

"You're a vampire!" The fish-thing said in amazement. He came closer to me to look at me better. I looked up at him; my eyes went big in terror. He was enormous. About eight feet tall, and his grinning mouth was full of sharp teeth that reminded me of a great white shark. He blinked and shifted in surprise as he stared at me. "Woah! You have strange looking eyes," He answered. I quickly looked down and started to blush from embarrassment. _What was wrong with my eyes?_

"That isn't nice to say to a young lady, Link," said the insect head thing. I looked up, just as the insect doctor came up to me. The Insect man gasped, "She does!…er…I-I do apologize madam. That was very rude of me," The insect man apologized for not acting like a gentleman. I didn't respond. The fish man, who I assumed was named Link, grinned from behind the insect man.

"Finally! A cool, new monster! We haven't had one in years!" the fish thing/Link said. The blue blob looked at me with its huge ruby red colored eye. "What kind of monster are you? What do people scream in terror when they see you?" he asked in his deep male sounding voice. I felt very uncomfortable where I was and didn't answer.

"Scoot back guys and give her some air," said the tall woman as she placed her huge hand sideways and gently brushed them away like moths. The white haired giantess smiled down at me with huge sapphire blue eyes. "I'm so glad to see another female monster," she said to me. I just stared at her in terror. My eyes flickered over to where the other male monsters were standing to the left. I saw that the right was open for me to run away. I took my chance.

I scrambled to my feet and ran from where I was sitting, and out into the blinding light. I staggered a bit from the blinding light, not used to it, and ran with my eyes tightly shut. I opened my wings from behind my back and tried to make them flap. I assumed I could fly with them and get away from this mad place. I felt my feet lift off the ground for a moment, before coming back down and crashing into the floor.

Pain shot up my arms, legs and the side of my face as I made contact with the ground. I cried out and felt the tears come to my eyes. As I laid on the round, I could hear the loud, thundering steps of the hideous beasts coming over to me. Ignoring the pain coursing through my body, I got up and sprinted away as fast as I could.

As I did, I felt the front of my body slam into something in front of me, causing me to cry out in alarm and fall backwards. From behind, a pair of hands grabbed my arms and kept me from falling to the ground again. "I got you," said a deep voice that I assumed was Link's. Fear and instincts shot through me. I jumped back onto my feet and moved away from him with my eyes somewhat closed. I placed my hands over my eyes and felt the stinging tears drip down my face. The light hurt so much. Why was it so blinding? I couldn't do anything. I was trapped. Just when I thought it was all over, my ears picked up a strange sound, followed by a different voice.

"Here, I think you need these" the voice said.

I hesitated and felt my shoulders tremble.

"It's ok. You can trust me," the voice said. It was a male's voice, with a strange Texan accent. I finally reached out towards the voice. My fingerless gloved hand touched something that felt cool and plastic-like.

They were sunglasses.

I slowly looked up and squinted. I used my right hand to block some of the light from my eyes. I quickly grabbed the black rimmed sunglasses and placed them on my face. Once they were on, my eyes stopped stinging. The whole world was so much easier to look at now. I looked up at the person who gave me the sunglasses. It was a man. He didn't look like a monster. He looked like a regular human. From what I saw, the general wore a nice green uniform, and had grey hair.

He smiled at me.

"My name is General W.R. Monger, I am in charge of this place," he answered. I blinked my eyes from behind my new sunglasses. "Place? Wh...what place is this?" I asked him. He shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, missy. But I can tell you this: This is an underground facility where we keep monsters like you and your new friends from the public," he answered. The sound of that made my ears flick back. "I...I'm a monster?" I asked him. The man smiled and nodded. "Yeah! Haven't you seen yourself in the mirror? You are a monster!" he said. I adverted my eyes from him and felt the tears come up; thankful for the sunglasses to hide them.

Monster.

It sounded like such an insult. Just because of what happened to me. I was instantly categorized as a monster. Before I could argue, he placed an arm on my shoulder. "Lets get you introduced shall we?" he said as he gently turned me towards the monsters I had been running away from. The monsters stood in a line and stared at my wings in shock. They didn't see that I had wings since I kept them hidden behind me when I was sitting down. I felt my whole body burn in embarrassment and rubbed my arm awkwardly. The general gestured to me.

"Monsters!, this is Batula! Our newcomer, I want y'all to introduce yourselves to her while she is here." I felt the blood drain from my face. Batula? Why was he calling me that? I turned to the General. "I...er...my name is not Batula, it's-" I started shyly, but the general placed a hand up.

"Not anymore, missy!" the General said to me. "You now have your very own monster name! And you are going to love it!" he told me. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Monster name? I didn't want a monster name. I didn't want to be considered a monster! I wanted to go home!

The fish man rolled his eyes. "Batula? That's not a monster name. It's more like a really bad pun," he pointed out. The bug-headed scientist placed the top part of his fist into his smile to keep himself from laughing out-loud. "I have to agree...the word "bat" and the name "Dracula" together?...I could have thought of a much better name for our new female monster," he snickered.

The general rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Then just call her Bat for short. I don't care. I didn't come up with the name. Just make her feel welcome and don't cause a ruckus. See you later, monsters!" he said as he waved goodbye.

Before I could protest, The general suddenly flew upwards. I had to do a double take when that happened before realizing that he was flying away on a jet pack I didn't notice before until now. I felt tears beginning to sting my eyes. I quickly turned away from the monsters and wiped my tears away. I didn't want them to see me cry.

Once he was gone, the monsters came up to me. I turned my head back to them. I stayed alert and watched them carefully, making sure they didn't try and do anything. The insect guy introduced himself first. "Hello my dear, do not be alarmed, I'm Dr. Cockroach, kind f a silly name, but it's better than "Bug Guy" any day," he chuckled as he extended his hand out for me to shake. I hesitated nervously. The doctor with a cockroach for a head didn't take time to wait for me to shake his hand; as he suddenly went around me suddenly and started to touch my wings. I felt my whole body tense up from his sudden action. He was fast.

"This is so amazing! Are these things real?" he asked in energetic excitement, lifting them to go up and then down. "Were you born with them? Can you fly with them? How far can you stretch your wings?" he began asking a million questions at once. I didn't answer him and instead moved a couple steps away from him, moving my wings away in the process. The doctor didn't seem to mind. He took out a pencil and notepad and began to jot something down in it and walked off in his own thoughts.

The azure blue blob, I already knew was named Bob, went next. "Hi, I'm B.O.B. It stands for Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate, but you can just call me B.O.B., Doc says it's easier to say," he said as he waved in a friendly manner to me. I blinked in surprise. I didn't realize it was an acronym. I gave him a weak smile and gave him a small, shy wave back. I could feel my bat ears twitching from every sound the monsters made, and the sound of my panicking heart racing.

After he stopped waving, B.O.B. started to flick my ears and began to laugh in his deep laugh. Dr. Cockroach face-palmed and came over and began to push the blue blob away from me before he did any other embarrassing acts in front of me. "Forgive our friend, for you see, he has no brain," Doctor Cockroach said as he pushed the blob away.

The fish thing came up to me after B.O.B. "Hey there, I'm The Missing Link, but you can call me Link." He said cooly and gave me a smile of sharp teeth. I took a step back in fear. Link chuckled. "Hey, it's ok. No need to freak out. I don't eat little bats for dinner, just fish," he said, smirking.

I couldn't help but to chuckle a little and smiled back nervously, showing my teeth. Suddenly my canine teeth grew long into long fangs. He stopped smiling and took a step back. "Woah," he said in alarm. I saw the blood drain from his face. I quickly closed my mouth, stunned that my canine teeth grew, and began to blush in embarrassment. "S-sorry," I said in a low voice.

Then the giant woman came up to me.

"Hi, I'm Ginormica, but you can call me Susan," she squatted down and started to look at me closely. "I didn't know vampires had wings" she said. Link blinked out of his state of shock and shook his head. "They don't. Usually they can turn into real bats," he said. Susan made a face. "Hm. Strange," she said. Link smirked. "I think it's cool," he said, looking over to me. I blushed and smiled, showing no teeth.

I guess they weren't going to hurt me...but I wasn't going to trust them instantly, and I didn't plan on making friends with them either...because I didn't plan on staying here any longer...

I was getting out of here...


	3. Chapter 2: Blood

Chapter 2: Blood

Just then, I heard a strange sound. My ears swiveled over to the tables. I turned my head before anyone else did and looked over to the tables. I watched as two huge tubes came down and hovered over the surfaces. One for the large table, and one for the normal sized table.

Link, B.O.B., and Dr. Cockroach. were already sitting at the normal sized table. The tube shot some meat into B.O.B., then the tube brought down some dead fish for Link, and then the tube brought down a whole load of rotting garbage for Dr. Cockroach. I hesitated where I stood. I didn't want to join their little group. Dr. Cockroach called me over. "Come on over, Bat! Have a seat." I continued to hesitate, but once I saw all three and a half pairs of eyes staring at me, I got nervous and slowly shuffled over to the table they were sitting at.

I found an extra seat between Link and B.O.B. and sat down between them. To my relief, everyone went back to tube brought down a small pile of oatmeal. I blinked at the pile of oatmeal. I hate oatmeal. Suddenly a small bag of blood came down on top of the oatmeal with a sick _plop_. I felt the blood drain from my face at the blood bag.

Who's blood was it? Was it donated? Was it animal blood? Was it... _human_ blood?

I could feel Link's eyes on me. He watched me as I picked up the bag of blood from the oatmeal and looked at it. I turned my head slightly to him and looked through my sunglasses to him. He looked very nervous. My ears twitched when he spoke up.

"Umm, Bat?" he asked. I opened my mouth, turning my eyes to the blood bag. "...Y-Yeah?" I answered, turning my head nervously up to him. Link looked more green than before. "Can you go somewhere else with that?" he asked while looking nervously at the bag. I then realized what he was thinking. He thought I was a vampire, and I was into sucking blood, and seeing that I could imagine is not a pretty sight to see.

I looked away from him.

"I...I'm actually not sure if I like blood or not." I answered truthfully. Everyone else stopped eating and looked at me. Even Susan stopped eating to look down at me from her table. She blanched and quickly looked away. Dr. Cockroach stared at me over his pile of rotting garbage. "It's ok, Bat. We wont judge you, right guys?" he asked as he looked over at Link and gave him a look. Link didn't say anything.

I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I didn't feel hungry for blood. I felt quite the opposite. I wanted anything else than blood. I eyed the pile of oatmeal...Ok maybe anything else than blood _and_ oatmeal; but my stomach was rumbling and was pleading to be filled. I sighed and decided to open up the blood bag. I tore open the plastic top. Some blood splattered out.

Link edged away from me. B.O.B. was oblivious to the whole thing as he continued to eat his food. Well, he wasn't really eating, he was dissolving his food, which I think would be worse to watch than watching someone drink blood. It was disturbing to watch, so I kept my eyes away from him. I didn't want to start imagining him accidentally swallowing me and dissolving me.

I stared down at the heavy dark red substance inside the clear plastic bag. I instantly felt sick to my stomach and moved it away from me. "I...I don't think I can do it," I said. Link frowned a little and lightly slapped his fish tail against the ground like an agitated cat. "That still doesn't convince me," answered Link.

Susan gave Link a look. "Don't make Bat do something she doesn't want to do! She said she doesnt't want to do it, so leave her alone," she said. Link shot her a look. "I want to be sure she wont try and suck our blood in the middle of the night! Unlike you, I'd rather not have two holes in my neck and be drained dry," he snapped.

The giantess continued to argue. I watched them for a while till I turned my focus back to the blood bag. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try and see if my taste has changed. I didn't really like the idea, but, There's no way of knowing unless I try...

I stared down at the bag, I hesitated, and took a sip. I immediately spat the blood out of my mouth. "Uck!" I yelled; then started to try to get the metallic taste of blood out of my mouth. Susan and Link stopped arguing and turned to me. "There, happy?" Susan asked Link.

The bag fell from my hands and spilled all across the table, staining Link's fish and the bug doctor's garbage. Doctor Cockroach placed his hand over his mouth and turned away in disgust. Link got up from his chair and bared his teeth. "Are you kidding me?!" he snapped angrily. I felt tears come to my eyes. B.O.B. turned his blue mass over to the commotion and his eye lit up in excitement.

"Ooh! Kool-Aid!" B.O.B. said excitedly and as he noticed the blood spreading across the tale. I tried to stop him but it was too late. The massive blob started to clean up the blood. I held my mouth to keep from throwing up. Once the blue blob was done, I got up from my chair and took off. Running as far away from them as I could. Tears ran down my face. I could hear Doctor Cockroach and Susan calling my monster name, but I ignored them. I wanted out of here. I didn't belong here. What was I doing here with these...these monsters? I needed to get out of here!

I slammed my fists against the wall and screamed. "Let me out of here!" I cried out. I heard Link shout to me that what I was doing was a bad idea. I ignored him and continued to pound the wall and kick it. I cried and yelled till my hands started to hurt. I rubbed my hands as my legs began to grow weak and caused me to fall to the ground. I sobbed in my hands. I was so confused and scared. Why was I here? I am not a monster! I'm a normal person! I'm a sixteen year old girl with family and friends! This was illegal! This was a kidnapping! W.R Monger was a kidnapper!

My bat ears went back as I took a deep breath to calm down. My cheeks burned. I looked down at my gloved hands. At my pale white fingers. Pale and white as paper. I was never this pale...

My eyes moved down behind my sunglasses to my gray t-shirt with my design. The red dripping letters: 'I don't suck' and had the face with fangs below stared back at me Ironic. I never knew this would ever happen to me...I wish it never did. I wanted everything to go back to normal...I wanted this all to be a bad dream...

Over across the way, I could hear what the monsters were saying. They were talking about me. Dr. Cockroach said that they should leave me alone and let me calm down. Link was still a bit upset about the whole thing.

I folded my wings down to my back and pulled my legs up to my chin...

...

 **A/N: Thank you Bink 1999 for the review :3 I really appreciate it!**


	4. Chapter 3: Monster in the Mirror

Chapter 3: Monster in the Mirror

An hour later, part of the wall opened up and Monger appeared.

"Monsters! Time to go back into your cells!" he ordered. The monsters obediently went into their cells. The general on his jet-pack came over to where I was, not really caring how or why I was over on the other side of the room away from the others.

"Come on Bat, time to show you where you will be sleeping," The General said.

I shook my head. "I am not sleeping here. I want to go home," I told him. The general shook his head. "Sorry little lady. Like I told you, you are a monster now. You can't go out there looking like that. Everyone would make fun of you and treat you wrong. You wouldn't be able to live a normal life," he told me.

I felt the tears coming to my face again. I blinked them away from behind my sunglasses. "But...what about my family? My friends? Can I see them? Call them?" I asked hopefully. The general shook his head. "Sorry. No can do. You are stuck here, forever," he told me with a smile on his face. His smile almost seemed like he was teasing me. Like I was some sort of pathetic animal to him. For his zoo of monsters. I wanted to wipe that ugly smirk off of his face. I felt the anger boil in my blood as I got up from where I sat and bared my teeth. My fangs jutted out.

"No! I'm not staying here! This is wrong! You kidnapped me!" I shouted at him. The general chuckled at me from where he stayed hovered on his jet-pack. "I did not kidnap you, I caught you! You are a monster-" he started, but I interrupted him. "I'm not a monster!" I screamed angrily as my wings came up over my head and my ears pressed down against the back of my head.

Past the general, the monsters saw me. I could see the look of shock on their faces. The general's face didn't so much as twitch. He just stared at me. Just then, I felt a sharp pain in the side of my arm. I looked over and saw a small dart with its needle jabbed in my skin. Before I could react, the whole world started to spin. I tried grabbing for the dart and pulling it out, but I couldn't seem to focus my free arm to do so. It just kept missing it. I staggered and faltered pressing my palm against my forehead. "Wha...?" I was able to muster till I felt my legs give up on me and everything went black...

...

When I woke up, I found myself in a dark room with no windows and no doors. I lifted my head up and felt the throb of pain from laying on the hard floor and rubbed the side of my cheek. As I did, my fingers brushed up against my sunglasses. I took them off and looked around the dark room.

I could see.

My eyes didn't sting or hurt. I could see in the dark.

The room was large, enough to fit a pool in it. I noticed that the walls were a light gray and had only a few items inside it. There was a poster of a moon with bats fluttering about across it, a chair, and an oval mirror around my height. My eyes stayed drawn to the mirror.

I slowly approached it, nervous and anxious to see. I haven't seen myself fully since I got here. So many questions swam through my head. Would I be able to see myself in the mirror? What if I could? Would the glass break? What if I didn't like the sight of myself? I shook the thoughts from my head and walked up to it.

I stopped before it. I could see my refection. What I saw in the mirror didn't look like me at all. The girl in the mirror was terrifying. She wore my clothes, but the rest of her did not look like me at all...

She looked like...I looked like...

A monster...

My face was deathly pale white. I looked like I had just died and came back to life. The fangs poking out from my mouth were sharp and needle like, and could pierce through almost anything. My normal human ears were gone. It looked as thought they had been sheered completely off and the skin grew right over it.

Poking above my dark brown hair were my new ears. My bat-like ears. Triangular and sharp. Pointed straight up and alert. Behind me I could see the wings peeking out. I struggled to control them. To stretch them out. They trembled and shook till I was able to stretch them most of the way out to my sides and see them clearly. They were leathery and webbed. Just like a bats'.

Last but certainly not least were my eyes. My eyes. The ones Link pointed out to me. _"Wow, you have weird eyes,"_ I remember him saying. I could now see what he was talking about. I did have weird eyes. They were utterly horrifying to look at. They were now yellow instead of white, with a hint of orange, giving it almost a fiery look.

My eyes seemed to pop against my pale white skin; and looked like they were faintly glowing in the darkness. My pupils weren't the regular round black dots, but were two thin black lines. They weren't bat eyes, and I was certain they weren't vampire eyes. What were they? The very idea I couldn't figure it out scared me. What were they? They looked a lot like cat's eyes.

I took in my new look. I was a living nightmare. What the hell happened to me? How did this happen? Why couldn't I remember? Why did this happen to me?! I watched as the monster in the mirror started to cry. I reached my finger-less gloved hand up to my face and felt a salty tear roll down.

Just then, I heard a sound coming from the other side of the wall to my left. I watched as the wall began to slowly open up. The blinding light came flooding into my room. I quickly placed my sunglasses on my face and watched the wall completely disappear. All three of the male monsters were standing outside of my room.

Doctor Cockroach waved a friendly wave. B.O.B. did the same right after coming into my "room." He looked around it in awe. "Oh wow! Your room is so huge! It's bigger than mine!" he pointed out. Link rolled his eyes. "B.O.B., all our rooms are the exact same size...except Susan's I think," he added. I watched as the blue blob went around my room, looking at everything in my room, which didn't take long since I only had like three items in my room and that was it. Dr. Cockroach cleared his throat and tried doing his proper greeting again.

Hello, Bat. We were wondering if everything was ok?" he asked. I shrugged and looked away. "I dunno. Feel mostly tired...and sad...I guess," I finally answered in a low voice. Dr. Cockroach nodded his head. "We understand. We know how it is to suddenly be in a strange unfamiliar place with strange people talking to you," he responded. Link rolled his eyes again and sighed loudly.

"We aren't strange people. We are monsters! Just say it. No one wants us around." He turned to me. "You are stuck here for the rest of your life, Bat. You are stuck here with us, talking to us everyday, eating the same food everyday. You are prisoner," he said. Dr. Cockroach glared at Link. "Don't say that to her, Link!" he snapped. Link glared back at the doctor with the bug head and bared his teeth.

"Why are you trying to sugar coat it? Tell her the truth! This is a prison for all monsters! Everyone is scared of us! Just by how we look! Do you think Bat will ever live her normal life again looking like that?" he asked gesturing to me. "No," he continued. "Because everyone will treat her differently. They will stare at her...and point at her...and throw rocks at her..." he added as his voice began to fade and went quiet. I blinked in surprise from his words. Link instantly snapped out of his state and shook his head. "Like I said. You are stuck here," he said, pointing at me.

With that, he turned away and left. Dr. Cockroach waved the air. "Ignore him. He doesn't usually act like this. I guess he didn't get a lot of sleep again," he said. I watched Link till he disappeared. "He's...he's not still angry about the blood thing, is he?" I asked. Dr. Cockroach hesitated.

"Um..." he started. "Let's just say that his grudges tend to last for a couple of days...but I'm sure he will forget about it later," he said, adding a smile at the end of his sentence. My ears went down. I didn't mean to spill the blood. It was an accident.

So far my time here as a monster wasn't doing so well. Link was already irritated with me, and I know the others were trying to be friendly with me, but something about the way they acted was like they were afraid of me...and B.O.B...I think B.O.B. didn't really even know what the hell was going on. For all I knew, he could be thinking that this new facility that he was stuck in was Disneyland.

Dr. Cockroach interrupted my thoughts when he noticed I had a mirror in my room. "So, you got to see what you looked like in the mirror. What do you think?" he asked. I silently held my arms out and looked down at myself.

Honestly, I didn't know what to think of my new features...except the fact that I terrify myself...Other than that, they were just additions to my body. Something I could possibly live with. I mean. If I learned to strengthen my wings I could maybe fly. That would be cool. My sensitive eyes to light was sort of an issue. Just meant I had to wear sunglasses for the rest of my life, or just do a lot of things at night...but I knew one obvious thing: as long as I had these weird features, I was stuck here as a monster.

 _..._

The "day" wore on till it was time for bed. I seriously couldn't tell since apparently the facility I was in was underground and there were no windows to look out to. Just colossal grey and white walls with thousands of blinding lights glaring down at us from above.

The walls to our rooms opened up and we were able to go inside. B.O.B.'s room had nothing in it except a little round ball. B.O.B. saw the ball and immediately moved into his room like an overexcited puppy and began to play with the ball; bouncing it against the walls and chasing after it. I was about to ask why B.O.B. didn't have a lot of objects in his room when I saw a chair appear in the corner of the room. When B.O.B. saw it, he immediately came up to it and hugged it happily. "Jerry! You came back!" he said excitedly. Just as he did, the chair dissolved into his blue mass and was gone in seconds. I shuddered as I watched the wall come back down and close the blue blob into his room.

Dr. Cockroach's room was very similar to mine, only that his had a lot of Legos, Lincoln Logs, wooden blocks, and other weird toys that kids like to build and play with. The funny thing about that was that the weird bug scientist took it all to the next level. All the blocks, tinker toys, Kinex, and other toys were made into so many objects. I saw a life size scale of a catapult, a flame thrower, and what I assumed was an atomic bomb. He smiled proudly when he saw me looking at his models. I assumed that they were models. "You don't by any chance have any fire powers, do you, Bat? or maybe some Uranium on you?" he asked me grinning with a look of insanity flickering on his face. I smiled nervously and moved away from him.

I looked over in Susan's room and saw that it was bigger than all the other rooms combined. In Susan's room, there was a gigantic bed that could fit a whale, a gigantic collection of posters of kittens, bunnies, and puppies with supportive slogans on them. She also had a huge chair she could sit in, a dresser, and a few assorted everyday objects that were gigantic for her size. Susan stepped over me as she walked into her room. Then she turned excitedly when she got a brilliant idea.

"Oh my gosh! Bat! We should totally do a slumber party sometime! That would be so fun! I haven't done one of those in a long time!" she said excitedly. I smiled a small smile. "Uh, yeah sure," I said. I wasn't really one for slumber parties. I never liked being so far away from home...

I felt a sudden pain in my stomach when I realized how I would never be able to see my home again. I started to cry as I wiped my eyes with the back of my gloved hand. "You alright?" I heard a deep, familiar voice from behind me. I jumped and quickly turned around. It was Link. He stared down at me. I quickly hid my face behind my bangs and looked down at the ground, rubbing my arms nervously. I didn't want Link to see me crying.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said quietly. Link was silent for a moment, then he spoke again. "You are homesick, aren't you," he said, not in a question. I was hesitant. I flicked my eyes over to him. He didn't look upset. His face had softened a little. I finally nodded my head and looked back down to the ground.

"Yeah. I'm homesick...," I admitted. I wanted to add some other things too, but decided against it. Link nodded his head. "You are going to feel that way for a while..." he responded. He hesitated for a moment before walking past me on all fours. "Well...night," he said before leaving. I lowered my head, making my ears go down. Tears sprang to my eyes.

I stared down at the floor, just as Link disappeared into his room. I noticed him turn his head slightly to me, but I just ignored it and continued to wipe my tears from my face. Just as his door closed, General Monger appeared before me on his jet pack. "Hello Bat! Ready to go to bed?" he asked me in his loud, booming cheerful voice. I adverted my eyes from him and glared down at the floor. No, I wasn't. I wanted to go home! I didn't want to be here anymore. This was insane! I wanted to scream and curse at his stupid grinning face.

I snapped out of my thoughts when the general started to talk to me. "Oh and I found out that you don't like blood, so tell me now what kind of food you like," Monger said. I looked up at him slowly through my bangs. He was being serious. He was being down to earth with me, and wanted to know my favorite foods. Most likely so I don't starve myself with the blood. I hate that they just assumed instead of just asking me. I wasn't going to bite them or anything.

I thought for a minute. "Well, I like plain foods, I guess, but right now…I feel like having cheese pizza...or maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich..." I answered in a low, shy voice.

Then the floor under me started to move me into my room. I shifted my feet in surprise and to keep me from falling. The General nodded his head. "All right, I shall tell them that, you'll get your food as soon as possible!" he told me. Right when he said that, my stomach growled. I wrapped my arms around my stomach to keep it from making anymore sounds.

"Thank you," I muttered. The general smiled and nodded. "If you need anything else, just tell me!" With that, he saluted me and took off. "Well! see you in the morning!" he said and disappeared. Then the wall closed and left me in darkness.

...


	5. Chapter 4: Go-Fish

Chapter 4: Go-Fish

I had a nightmare. It's the same one I had the first time. Always the same. Never changes. I don't understand it. I want to understand it. I'm on a cliff-side. Looking out over the ocean. I'm near a tree. I get... attacked by something I can't see. I'm falling. Right when I'm about to hit the ground. I wake up with a start. After that, it was hard for me to go back to sleep...

In the morning…well I guess it's morning since we were underground and don't get to see the sun go up; the huge wall that was my door to my bare room opened up. As the wall went up, the lights came shining into my room. I shifted and breathed through my nose in annoyance as I blindly reached for my sunglasses.

"Rise and shine, monsters!" I heard Mongers voice blare out through some speakers, causing my ears to go back. A horrible ringing sound pierced through my ears. I groaned from the sudden loud noise and placed my hands over my ears. The speakers disappeared, but the sound still echoed and I felt that I had nearly gone deaf.

I placed my sunglasses on and groggily got up from the hard floor where I slept and shuffled out of my cell. I am just going to say it. It's a cell. Link was right. I'm a prisoner. I had a hard time sleeping last night. I had a lot of nightmares, and the cold hard floor wasn't something I found very comfortable. Everything was sore.

I yawned in exhaustion and rubbed my throbbing head as I made it over to the table. Doctor Cockroach, Susan, and Link were already at the table. B.O.B. was distracted on the other side of the room with a what I'm guessing was a new toy. From where I stood, it looked like a paddle ball, and the poor blob had no idea how to use it, but was still having a lot of fun with it.

"Good morning my dear" said Doc. cheerfully as I walked over to the table. "Morning," I said in a sleepy voice. My ears twitched and I stretched my wings before letting them flop to the floor and drag on the ground. I sat down next to Doc, away from Link since I knew he didn't want to be near me. I could see the expression on Link's face that he didn't get enough sleep as well.

"So, how did you sleep?" Dr. Cockroach asked me in his cheerful voice. I seriously had no idea how he could be all cheery and awake. I'm sure he had coffee or something to keep him going. Maybe I should get into drinking coffee. I shook my head. "I actually didn't get a lot of sleep," I admitted.

Dr. Cockroach blinked his enormous eyes in surprise. "Oh?" he asked. I took a deep breath and exhaled. "I don't have a bed," I added, hoping that would answer him. Dr. Cockroach nodded. "Ah. I guess Monger forgot to put one in for you...kind of ridiculous if you ask me. Forgetting to put a simple bed into a room. I mean, we aren't uncivilized beings!" he answered, just as B.O.B. came back with his new toy in his blue mass. The toy dissolved away and B.O.B let out an enormous burp, completely ruining Dr. Cockroach's point in us monsters being civilized.

Dr. Cockroach's antennae twitched in annoyance as he face palmed and shook his head, muttering something to himself.

Susan leaned her head down slightly to me. "You might need to tell Monger what you need. He's the one in charge of all that. You can ask for anything and he will get it for you," she explained.

"Except for your freedom..." Link grumbled, just as the tube came down to give us our breakfast. A pile of fish came down first. Link placed his hands around the pile of fish and scooted it closer to him. I saw him eye me for a moment before quickly wolfing down his fish.

I sighed in annoyance and didn't say anything. I didn't want to deal with him at the moment. Next, a pile of garbage came down for Dr. C. B.O.B. was given a whole turkey to digest. The tube that came down for Susan at her table brought forth a whole ton of pancakes, including butter and maple syrup and a fork.

Finally, one slice of cheese pizza came down from the small tube and fell face down with a sickening splat. I winced from the sight of it and carefully picked it up. Part of the cheese stuck to the table causing it to stretch. Link snorted and continued eating his fish. I sighed and carefully bit the end. It was alright.

Link, Susan, Doc, B.O.B. I ate our food in silence.

After I finished my pizza, I decided to go and ask Monger for some things. I had a feeling my escape plans were going to take a while, so I might as well ask for some things that will make it less of a prison, like an actual bed and maybe some paper to plan my escape.

It took a while to contact Monger and for him to come down and see me. There is a red button on the opposite side of the room that we were told to push when we needed something. I never really knew it was there. Once Monger came down, I gave him a list of all the things I needed.

Once I was done, he nodded and went back to the upper portion of the wall where it opened up, allowing him to go through, then disappeared. I stared where he disappeared for a while till looking away.

I sighed and stretched my wings a little. They shook and trembled till they fell to the floor again. I looked back over to the far opposite side of the room to see how the other monsters were doing. Link, Dr. Cockroach, and B.O.B. were all sitting at the table. From where I stood, it looked like some sort of card game.

As I stood there, watching from afar, I hesitated for a moment. Link might not want me to play cards with them. So far, everything seemed to go wrong with me trying to fix things with Link. Susan, Dr. Cockroach and B.O.B. seemed to like me. Link on the other hand, was hard to please. Maybe if I asked to play, I would let him win and he wouldn't be angry with me anymore.

I took a step forward, hesitated, then found myself walking back over towards them. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I didn't like getting on anyone's bad side. At the same time, I had time to kill before I got back to working on my escape plans...which I still needed to work on.

I casually walked up to the three male monsters. "Hi," I said and gave a friendly wave. B.O.B. and Dr. C. turned and waved back, Link on the other hand, did not even acknowledge me. He just kept his eyes on his cards.

"Can I play?" I asked nervously. Doctor Cockroach smiled and nodded. "Sure, come and sit. You can play next round," he said. Link huffed. "I'm not playing with her," he grumbled. My shoulders slumped. I knew he was going to say that. Doctor Cockroach rolled his huge eyes.

"Oh really now, Link. Let the young lady play with us. Are you afraid you are going to lose to a _girl?"_ he chuckled. Link gave him a glare. "No," he said in a bitter tone. Susan watched us from where she sat. She sighed. "Well then what's the problem? You usually like it when you play against new monsters. Bat is a new monster...and she's a vampire! You haven't played against a vampire, Link," she added. Link was quiet for a moment. I wanted to correct Susan that I really wasn't a vampire, but I kept my mouth shut, hoping her words would sink in to the fish ape and let me play.

Finally Link sighed and nodded his head. "Allright. She can play," he said. I smiled a small smile and looked up at Susan. Susan gave me a wink. I sat down next to B.O.B and waited till the three were done with their game. Once they were, Link shuffled the cards and dealed them out.

Right when we were about to start, B.O.B. leaned over to me and started to touch my huge bat ears. My ears instinctively went back in annoyance. "Please don't touch them," I said as nice as I could, folding my cards. B.O.B. swiveled around to face Dr. C. and Susan. "I'm confused. Is this monster a boy or a girl?" he asked as he pointed at me.

"Bat is a girl B.O.B." answered Doc, then asked me if I had any threes. B.O.B. blinked his eyeball as it floated in the center of his blue mass.

"Then what is a vampire?" he asked, scratching the side of his head.

"A monster who has fangs and goes out at night to suck peoples' blood...Go Fish," I answered for him and Dr. Cockroach. The enormous blue blob cocked his head, which reminded me of a puppy. "But you don't like blood, are you a bird then?" he asked. I could see at the corner of my eye that Link was starting to get impatient. I quickly asked Link if he had any twos. "Go fish," he told me. I grabbed the faced down card at the top of the deck.

"Well. Bat could be just growing into her vampire ways. Might take some time..." Susan guessed. Doc. shrugged. "That's a possibility. Or she could be half vampire...or maybe even a whole new monster all together...It's your turn B.O.B." he said.

"King me!" B.O.B. said smiling. Link sighed, irritated.

"No, B.O.B., we are playing Go Fish, not checkers," he corrected the clueless blue blob. B.O.B. looked down at his cards. "Ohhhh...uh...do you have any...twelves?" he asked. Doc looked over at the blue blob's cards. "That's a six, B.O.B. Cards don't go up to twelve," he replied. "Go fish," B.O.B. said. Link sighed. "No, B.O.B., I'm supposed to...nevermind, here," he grumbled as he gave B.O.B. one of his cards.

After that, it was Doc's turn again. He asked if I had any fives. I gave him the card. Doc was quiet for a moment, then pointed something out I didn't realize at first.

"I noticed that you don't have any bite marks on your neck," he said. I instinctively placed my right hand over my right side of my neck. I checked the left as well. He was right. I didn't have any bite-marks.

"So, you must be a whole new different vampire then," Susan guessed. I shrugged. "I dunno. I guess so," I said back. B.O.B. once again took a while to ask Doctor Cockroach if he had any fours. The evil mad bug scientist gave him a card.

Link slowly asked me if I had any fours, as he did, the ground shook, causing us to all go up from our seats and crash back down. I jolted in panic. "Wh-what was that?" I asked. Link placed his hands up and tried to act all cool and calm. "Relax, kid. It's nothing to worry about," but I could see that he had a smirk on his face.

I looked down at a cup of water on the table. The water rippled. My bat ears stuck straight up at the top of my head, fully alert. Something was coming. Something big. Another huge quake shook the whole ground. "Is it an earthquake?" I hoped. Link shook his head. "Nope, something much bigger then that," he said, grinning from one finned ear to the other. He was enjoying watching me freak out.

Doctor Cockroach rolled his eyes. "Oh don't scare Bat, Link. Just tell her what's coming and prepare her so we don't have to go through...the incident again," he said slowly. Susan shuddered. Link winced a little, then opened his mouth. Right as he did, a horrific creature taller than a building came into the huge room we were in. The thing came out from one of the walls that opened up. It was over three-hundred feet tall and was covered in orange fur. It looked like some sort of hairy insect with large eyes and purple antennae and six purple arms.

My eyes widened behind the sunglasses and I felt my mouth drop open.

Link chuckled softly. "It's ok kid, its just Insectosaurous, he says "hi." I stared at the huge monster before looking back down at Link. He was joking, right? He was playing with me.

Once it saw us, it slowly started to turn in our direction. I fumbled out of my seat. Link grabbed my arm to keep me from running away or doing anything rash. "It's ok. Don't freak out," he tried telling me in a calm voice; but I was too scared to listen. I heard Doctor Cockroach and Susan say something behind me, but the blood was rushing loudly in my ears. All I could hear was Link and the behemoth before me.

The creature's huge eyes made contact with mine. I felt my heart racing, wanting to burst out of my chest and bolt away. I wanted to get away before the giant monster decided to eat me. I felt my wings flinch and move on instinct, desperately wanting to flap as hard as they could, but they were too weak.

The creature jolted, I assume at the sight of me, and let out a loud roar that rattled my bones and made my teeth chatter. I pulled, but Link had a good grip on me. "Bat, don't-" he started.

I screamed.

Once I screamed, something strange happened. At one moment, Link was sitting in his seat holding my arm, trying to keep me from freaking out and screaming. The next, he was sent flying backwards, out of his chair, and crashed about twenty feet away from us. Cards went flying and fluttered through the air like black and white butterflies. B.O.B. laughed in delight and clapped his gel like hands.

I placed my hands over my mouth in terror. Oh God. What have I done?!

Behind me, I heard Doc and Susan gasp. When I turned around, they had expressions of shock and a little bit of horror on their faces. B.O.B. laughed and placed his hand over his mouth. Dr. Cockroach quickly came up to me and looked at me closely.

"That was incredible! I didn't know you had that ability!" he said as he pulled out his notepad and pencil and quickly wrote something down in it. I slowly lowered my hands from my mouth and slowly shook my head. "N-neither did I," I admitted in a soft voice. I turned back and saw Link sunny side up on the ground, motionless. I gasped in terror and ran over to him.

"Link!" I called out in panic, praying I didn't kill him. The orange creature that towered above me roared again, causing me to stop in my tracks. I stood about ten feet away from the motionless fish ape. The orange furry monster looked down at me with glaring eyes, then roared again and advanced towards me. As big as it was, it moved fast.

I breathed shaky breaths and quickly walked backwards. Once I did, I tripped over my limp bat wings and fell to the ground. The massive furry insect stopped before Link, but was able to lean all the way down to me. Its eyes were the size of tennis courts! The terrifying creature made some threatening noises at me and bared its tiny sharp teeth, which were small in his case, but to my size, they were the size of butcher knives. My ears went back. I squeezed my eyes shut and placed my hands over my face, bracing myself for the worst.

Then I heard Susan's quick loud steps thunder over me. When I looked up, she stood above me, one leg forward, and one leg back. "Stop! Insecto! It's ok! It was an accident! She didn't mean to hurt Link!" Susan cried from above me, placing her hands up to the orange monster. The c-er-Insectosaurous, or I guess Insecto for short, stopped and lifted his head up a little to her height. It made a little confused sound. Susan continued.

"Bat is a friend. She is a new monster," Susan added. I stared up at the two giants above me.

Just then I heard a deep groan. I looked over to where it came from. It was Link. He was coming to. I sighed with relief. I felt a pair of hands gently grab my arm from behind. I turned and found Doctor Cockroach helping me up. "You ok, my dear? Must have had such a scare," he said in his British accent. He helped me up just as B.O.B. zipped past us towards Link.

Insecto made a happy roar and leaned down to nuzzle Link gently with the side of his enormous cheek. Link smiled and petted Insecto's head. "Hey buddy. Thanks. I'm allright, don't worry," he said to Insecto.

Insecto helped Link up with his nose. Nudging him gently. B.O.B. placed his hand on Link's shoulder once the fish ape started to sway and falter. Dr. Cockroach walked away from me and went up to Link. He gave the fish ape a quick check up, listening to his heart beat and checking where he hit his head against the ground.

"Just a minor injury. You'll be allright, just take it easy for the rest of the day," he instructed the fish scaled monkey. Link gently rubbed the side of his head. "Thanks, Doc," he muttered. I stared at Link from where I stood. Link's eyes met mine. We stared at each other for just a moment.

A look of fear flickered across his face, but then was immediately gone as he looked away from me. I took a couple nervous steps towards him. I fumbled with my gloved hands in front of my chest nervously.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know I could do that..." I said, shaking. I stopped when I noticed Insecto looking at me. When I looked back, I saw Link slowly walking up to me. I took a step back as he approached me. He stopped and stared down at me. His expression was hard. His fish tail flicked behind him. He was mad. I hurt him, and I humiliated him with my new power I didn't even know I had!

My head barely made it up to his chest. My ears went up to his neck. I could hear his heart beating inside it from where I stood. I looked away from him and closed my eyes and pressed my ears against the back of my head. I waited, bracing for anything. _One...two..._

I heard his footsteps as he silently walked around me and away from me. I turned and watched him leave, walking back to his cell. Once he disappeared into his cell room, I exhaled a shaky breath...

...


	6. Chapter 5: Secret Weapon

Chapter 5: Secret Weapon

It had been six hours since the Go-Fish incident.

Link still wouldn't talk to me. I tried talking to him, but he wouldn't answer. He mostly just stayed in his cell. He came out just a while ago to hang out with Insecto. Since I first met Insecto, I have been staying away from him. The gigantic orange furry insect didn't seem to want me around him anyway. He seemed pretty upset that I had attacked his best friend. It still shocked me that Link had a connection with the whale sized creature.

Susan and Dr. Cockroach walked over to where the two were and started talking to the fish ape. Insecto seemed to understand them as well and would make his weird noises, and Link would translate for them.

Soon after, Insectosaurous was taken away by a small helicopter with a huge flood light dangling from it. Insecto's eyes got big and his black pupils went even bigger till they were like black swimming pools. The helicopter flew slowly away with Insecto lumbering close behind through the open section in the wall. I was very distracted by Insecto's departure back into his cell. I at first didn't understand until I realized that Insecto, even though he was as big as Godzilla, he was still a bug like thing and I guess was one of those types of bugs that was distracted by light. Once Insecto was gone, Susan and Dr. C. talked to Link privately for a while.

Once in a while, Link would stop listening to them, and turn to glance over at me with his arms folded over. I would watch from afar, listening in to their conversations, and just feel my ears droop. They were talking about me and the incident. Dr. Cockroach looked over to me, then he lowered his voice and began talking to Susan and Link about something. I strained to listen to them, but I couldn't hear them.

The three were talking about me I knew that, but what about me? What were they talking about that they didn't want me to hear? Did they know I was listening in on their conversations? I decided to move to the furthest part of the huge room and leave them be.

When I glanced back, I saw Link look over to me from the small group. He narrowed his eyes a little, then muttered something to Susan and Doc, but I didn't know what it was. It looked like he said. "I doubt she can." Doubt? What were they talking about? I sighed and just looked away from the fish man and continued walking.

Link did not like me, and I assumed didn't plan on liking me anytime soon. First it was me spilling blood on his fish. Then it was me yelling back at him. This time, I had sent him flying across the room when I screamed. My new power. I had a very strong scream. A sonic scream? Is that what people would call it? I knew enough about vampires that they didn't have any powers like that. Maybe if I were bitten by a...banshee maybe? I don't know. I felt more like a freak then a monster.

Doctor Cockroach had told me not to scream anymore, just for now. He didn't want Monger or any of his hired workers to find out. I didn't really want to try screaming again anyway. I already hurt one of the monsters with it, I didn't want to do the same mistake again. On top of that, I'm sure if Monger found out, he would want scientists to come in and start running tests on me. It was bad enough I was a prisoner, I didn't want to be a prisoner and a lab rat.

Later on in the day, I was sitting at the table by myself with a pencil, eraser, and pieces of blank paper. I love to draw. I had asked Monger a couple hours ago if I could have a pencil and paper so I could draw, and my wish came true. My bed came as well. It was more of a single cot bed than an actual bed. Might have to be more specific next time...if there is a next time. The paper was normal white computer printing paper. The pencil was small and had a couple bite marks on it. The jumbo pink eraser was new.

I sometimes drew to get my mind off of things. For now, I was drawing out plans to escape this prison. So far, I had one idea that seemed like it would work: Stealing Monger's jet pack and flying out...but the more I imagined it, the idea started to feel like a one out of a billion chance it would work. It was more of a shot in the dark. Most likely I would get taken down as soon as I was a foot off of the ground. I crumpled up the drawing of me and the jet-pack and tossed it over my shoulder. The paper ball landed next to the small pile of other paper balls of rejected plans I had created.

Stupid ideas.

I heard B.O.B. come up from behind me. I knew he was going to try and scare me. Just today, a couple hours ago, I told him that I can't be jump scared. He's taken that as a challenge, and since then has been trying to jump-scare me. Because of my super sensitive bat ears, I'm able to hear him miles away. On top of that, being a brainless blob, he isn't really one who can be quiet. I sometimes wait till he is close enough, then I turn around and jump-scare him instead.

I did just that when he came close enough to me. I whipped around in my chair and lunged at him. "Rawr!" I roared, my fangs jutting out. B.O.B. screamed and jumped back a bit, but then began to laugh. "Oh man! I thought I was gonna jump-scare you that time!" he said while laughing. I smiled back and flicked my ears around.

B.O.B. noticed me drawing and pointed. "Whatchya drawing?" he asked me in his deep voice. I had drawn another picture of me taking down Monger and flying away like...well I guess a "bat out of..." Never mind. While I am a teenage monster with bat features, I am not going to succumb to saying bat puns. I quickly crumpled up the paper into a ball and tossed it over my shoulder.

"Nothing. Just a stupid idea," I answered. B.O.B. didn't hear me as he instantly lost interest in my words and chased after the wadded up paper ball like a puppy. I pulled out another blank piece of paper from my small stack and placed it in front of me again. I stared down at the paper for a moment. Thinking.

I decided to take a break from the ideas of escape and began to doodle. I wasn't even halfway done when B.O.B. came back up to the table. He grinned his silly lopsided grin and noticed my drawings. "Wow! You are really good at drawing!" he said smiling big. I smiled back. "Thanks, B.O.B.," I said and went back to doodling. I looked up when the table trembled a little. B.O.B. had placed his big gel like elbows onto the table with his hands clasped together in front of him.

"Can you please draw a picture of me?" asked B.O.B. hopefully. I smiled and nodded. "Sure." I grabbed a fresh new sheet of paper, picked up my pencil, and began to draw him. He brought his hands back into his big blue mass and grinned happily. "Yay! Should I pose? Should I stand over here? What shape do you want me to take?" he asked all the questions at once. I found myself chuckling at his excitement. "You can just stay like that," I told him.

"Gotchya," he said and held still where he was. After a couple seconds his eye swiveled to me "...Can I breathe?" he asked. I nodded. "You can breathe, move, blink. Anything you want," I told him patiently. B.O.B. was truthfully really easy to draw.

When I was done, I handed the drawing over to him. B.O.B. looked at it and looked like he was about to cry. "I love it," he said smiling, as he hugged the piece of paper. Dampening it.

I smiled at him.

Just then, Doc, Link, and Susan came out of their cells and headed over to the table for their afternoon meal. Link sat at the opposite end of me and Doc took the seat next to me. Once again, the tubes came down and gave us the same food.

I folded my papers and put my pencil in my pocket as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich came down on the table. Every other meal I got cheese pizza, and the other times I got PB and J. I picked it up and started to eat it. We all ate in silence again. Occasionally I would look over to Link. Link wouldn't notice and continue eating his fish.

I hesitated for a minute and opened my mouth to speak. Before I could, Doctor Cockroach spoke first and pointed at the mound of paper balls behind my chair. "What are those?" he asked. I didn't look behind me and just continued eating my sandwich. "Nothing. Just...stupid ideas," I said. Doctor Cockroach exchanged glances with Susan and Link. They looked back when B.O.B. showed them the picture I drew of him, all damp and smudged.

"Look! she drew a picture of me! Looks just like me!" he said happily. Doctor Cockroach smiled a weak smile. "That's great B.O.B.," he said. Susan smiled as well from her enormous table. "I didn't know you were an artist, Bat," she said. I swallowed a portion of my sandwich and nodded. "Yeah. I love drawing. Keeps me sane while I'm here," I replied.

"You make it sound like you aren't staying here much longer," Link spoke up, surprising me. I hesitated, then nodded. "I...I plan on leaving this place," I finally mentioned. B.O.B. heard me and seemed hurt. "You're leaving? Where are you going? Why are you leaving? Is it because of Link?" he asked. Link looked over at me with his tired eyes. I looked back at him before looking away. "...N-no. It's not because of Link...It's just...I have a life outside this place. Family. Friends-"

"We are your friends," the blue blob said, interrupting me. I looked over to Doctor Cockroach, Susan, even Link. They all looked at me with concerned faces. They knew it was hard to explain something like this to the blue blob. I turned back to the blue blob. He looked at me with his big eye. I nodded. "Yes. You guys are my friends, but I have other friends too...and I'm sure they are worried about me."

B.O.B. went silent. He lowered his head. I looked down at the floor, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry B.O.B...but I don't belong here...I don't..." I was going to say something else, but I decided against it and just repeated myself. "...belong here," With that, I got up and left the table; my wings dragging behind me on the cold floor.

I walked over to my cell. The rectangular section in the wall opened up for me into the huge dark room that was my room. I walked in and stopped. I listened as the wall closed behind me, engulfing me into the darkness.

I stared at my reflection from across the way. My oval mirror stood on the other side. The creepy monster in the mirror stared back at me. I walked up to it and stared at my face. Gradually, my yellow cat like eyes went up to my big brown bat ears. I reached up and tugged on my left ear. I winced when I felt a sharp pain from it.

When I had been drawing, when I finally got out of this prison, I had thought of maybe getting an operation. So I could live like a normal teenager in society. Removing my ears and wings, maybe wear contacts for my eyes...but the more I stared at my refection, the more I realized that that idea wouldn't work. My normal ears were gone. These bat ears were my new ears. If I sheered them off, I'd lose the ability to hear.

I sighed and watched as my monster reflection's shoulders drooped, as if sighing in relief...

...

I stayed inside my dark cell the rest of the day, drawing out my plans. After a while, I started to get frustrated. I couldn't think of anything. No ideas, no plans. Just wasted paper. Anger started to boil inside me. The walls started to feel like they were closing in on me.

I roared in frustration and tore up my paper into little bits. Then I attacked the small pile of paper balls behind me and tore those up, and started chucking them against the walls. Afterward I screamed, causing the wall across from me to make a dent. I stopped screaming from the shock of what my scream did, then my anger got the best of me again, and began to kick the wall. I kicked and pounded my fists till I was exhausted and collapsed onto my bed. Tears came to my eyes and fell down the sides of my face.

I looked up at the ceiling above. I tried to guesstimate how far up it was. Four-hundred? five hundred? A thousand? I decided not to dwell on it. I thought back to the conversation I had with the monsters, and the incident with Link.

I sighed when I started feeling the guilt feeling beginning to form in my stomach. I guess it didn't matter. Why should I try being on Link's good side? Why should I try being friends with these monsters? I needed to focus on escaping. No more of this...socializing. Even so, I couldn't help but to get angry at myself for not thinking up of a good plan.

I then pushed the negative thoughts and ideas away and thought of my family and friends. I have forgotten all about them, how is that possible? I wondered what they were doing right now. I bet they thought I was dead or something. I sat up and felt tears coming to my eyes. I wiped them with my sleeve and put my knees to my chest and sat there.

I sat there on my bed with my eyes closed for a while till I heard a small knock on my door. I sighed as I got up and pressed the glowing red button on the side of my door. "Yeah?" I asked. Doctor Cockroach greeted me. "Hello, my dear. May I come in?" he asked in his British accent. I looked over into my demolished room before turning back to him. "...Sure...just excuse the mess," I said in a low voice.

The eccentric bug headed scientist scuttled into my room fast on all fours like a...yeah, a cockroach, and closed the red door for me. I blinked in surprise from his sudden speed and opened my mouth. "Uh-" I started. The doctor shushed me and waited till the doors closed.

"We are safe to talk normally in here. There are no listening devices or any security cameras in here," he told me. I stared at him blankly in the darkness. I noticed that he was looking at me normally. He could see in the darkness too.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him. The mad doctor pointed hastily to the corners of the ceiling. "No cameras! Privacy. One of the luxuries they have given us monsters," he grinned happily, his eyes dilated. I blinked in surprise. It never occurred to me that there were no cameras in the cells. Then I lowered my head from the ceiling.

I sighed and just blurted out what had been eating inside me for the past couple of hours.

"It's all my fault...I shouldn't be here." I finally told him. He looked at me with a concerned expression. Then he placed his hand on my shoulder. "No its not. It's not your fault at all. Link is just a grouch. He doesn't realize his lack of sleep is getting the better of him. I think he actually needed that wake up call," he chuckled softly, causing me to smile a little. Doctor Cockroach continued. "...He's a really nice guy, Bat. You two just had a rough start...but you are right about one thing..." he added.

I looked up at him; my dish like ears pointed toward him. He stared back at me with his creepy and insanely large eyes.

"You don't belong here...we all don't belong here," he told me. "Which is why I am here to talk to you about," he added. "We are monsters, yes, but we shouldn't be treated as such. We are still the same person we used to be...well, besides B.O.B., Insecto and Link, but that's besides the point. They shouldn't be treated like this. Imprisoned. It's not right. We aren't bad people."

As he said those words, I noticed his expression change. He had a look of hurt and sadness. I never thought I would ever see Dr. Cockroach sad or upset like this. He seemed to have been in this prison longer than any of us. He knows the hardships of living here, day after day...he acted so happy and calm, yet deep down...he was so emotionally hurt.

Gradually, his sad expression changed and I started to see the faint hints of his evil mad scientist persona looking back at me. An evil looking smile crossed his bug face. He pulled something out from his white labcoat pocket and revealed one of my paper balls. He unwrinkled it and revealed one of my failed drawings of my escape plans.

"I have noticed that you have the same intentions of getting out of here as much as the rest of us," he said smirking. My eyes widened in surprise. He continued talking. "Truth be told, we hate it here. Link reveals his true emotions, while the rest of us try and hide it, but deep down, we are miserable here. I have been here for fifty years, and I don't plan on having this place be my resting place," he said with bitterness.

I stayed quiet. I was starting to see the real mad scientist side of Doctor Cockroach and I wasn't sure if I liked it. It was very unsettling. Doctor Cockroach handed me the crinkled piece of paper and continued his little speech.

"I have been trying to escape from this place for years. On average of six escape attempts a month...but now I have a plan that will surely not fail. We are escaping, all of us…tonight, and you are going to help us...you're our secret weapon."

I stared at the bug headed scientist in shock. Instantly I knew what his plan was. I knew what my purpose was for this escape plan. I was finally going to get out of this prison, along with my new monster acquaintances.

Then Doctor Cockroach threw back his head and laughed a loud and crazy maniacal laugh. Soon after he was done laughing his evil laugh, it was followed by loud banging from the other side of the wall.

"You know we can hear you," I heard Link say in a irritated muffled voice from the other side. I couldn't help but to chuckle at Doctor Cockroach's frown.


	7. Chapter 6: Escape (part 1)

Chapter 6: Escape (part 1)

After dinner, Doctor Cockroach invited us all to meet up with him in his cell. Since our private conversation, Doctor Cockroach has been planning, checking, and double checking to make sure his brilliant plan wouldn't fail. Link still had his doubts on me and the plan itself, but Doctor Cockroach ignored him and showed us his plan on his chalk boards, filled with drawings, blueprints, sticky notes, and other papers taped to it.

B.O.B.'s focus was like a goldfish's. In three seconds the blue blob was distracted by all of the doctor's toys. Susan tried holding the blob steady with her huge hand, but B.O.B. couldn't seem to stay still. Link didn't really tune in since he knew the plan was going to fail. I was a bit nervous since I was the "Secret Weapon" as Doc said, but I listened in on what we had to do.

"Bat here as we all know has a sonic scream that is very strong. Strong enough to send certain people flying distances across a room..." Link shot Doctor Cockroach a glare. "...and cause dents in the walls," Doctor Cockroach explained. Link shrugged his broad shoulders. "So?" he asked. Doctor Cockroach pointed at the walls surrounding us.

"Monger has said that these walls are impenetrable. I have a feeling the walls are possibly close to or are made of titanium, the strongest metal," The bug headed doctor explained. Hearing this caused Link's eyes to grow big for a second, then he quickly covered it by rolling his eyes. I had a feeling that he has tried punching the walls a few times and has never even accomplished making a dent in them.

Doctor Cockroach smirked at Link's reaction as he cleared his throat and continued. "-Which is why she is our secret weapon," he said. Dr. Cockroach went deeper into my role. Basically I had to use my sonic scream ability on any guards who would be trying to stop us, just to give us more time; and any barred doors or walls that Link wasn't strong enough to take down.

When Doctor Cockroach said that, Link shot me a glare and crossed his arms. I could tell he didn't like hearing that last part. He didn't want to look weak to my scream ability. I wasn't even sure if my scream ability was that strong; but if it was and if Link complained about it, I wouldn't mind screaming at him again and sending him miles away.

After Doctor Cockroach finished explaining his plan and telling us what we all had to do, he clapped his hands together and looked at all of us. "Allright, are there any questions?" he asked. Link immediately raised his hand. "Yeah. What about Insecto?" he asked. Silence went through the room. Doctor Cockroach placed his hand up.

"Don't worry my fish friend. We will get Insecto out as well...We will meet in his cell when its time for us to escape," he added. Link hesitated but then decided not to say anything. I noticed Dr. Cockroach turn his back towards the chalk boards. I looked over to the written and drawn out plan on the papers. I didn't see any notes or sketches with Insecto involved. I kept my mouth shut when the bug headed scientist turned back around and clapped his hands together. "Allright! Let's get started."

Doc explained the plan to us thoroughly for about an hour straight. I would have to speak for the others that we did start to fall asleep at Dr. C's lecture. I felt like I was back in World History class again. Once he was done he each gave us a small object in a small box.

Once we left Doc's cell, we silently sat down at the table and thought about escaping this prison. I had my sunglasses already on so I didn't have to feel the sting from the artificial lights above. As I sat there, I thought about my friends and family, and the ache to just be outside again. The sudden thought of being outside made my heart stop for a second.

Outside. Daylight. Sunlight.

Would I burn up in sunlight? I never realized it until now. I was a monster. A possible vampire. A creature who couldn't already stand the light. If I was going to escape this place, how was I going to live as a normal person? Would I have to stay inside? Would I be able to go out? Would I be able to endure natural light? I shifted my foot nervously underneath my chair. I hoped that wouldn't be the case. I didn't want to burn up to ashes.

I decided not to worry about it and focused on my family and friends. Their faces were almost a blank to me now. I don't know how long I had been here. Might have been a couple days, but even so, a couple days could feel like a couple weeks. My normal daily routine gone and immediately placed into an unfamiliar environment with strangers and unfamiliar schedules.

I wanted my old life back.

An hour passed and before I knew it, Monger was calling us to go back to our cells. We obeyed and silently walked to our cells and back into the darkness. Once I was alone in my cell, I pulled out the small white box Doc had given me and the others just before we left his cell from my pocket.

It was a digital watch, with a couple of Dr. C's additions. He had set all of our watches to go off at midnight. When he told us "go off," I got nervous and hoped he meant that he was meaning a small alarm and not a bomb or something. I have been told enough small stories from Susan and Doc himself how he had a couple of his own inventions accidentally blown up a couple times. According to Link, they blew up all the time.

Cautious, I left the watch on the other side of the room, far away from me, and got into my cot bed. The bed was a single, with scratchy black sheets with a weird orange symbol on it. It had a question mark in a circle, from it it branched off to three smaller circles, and had weird lines that made up a pattern. I laid my head on the pillow that was uncomfortable as well. It felt like it was stuffed with Styrofoam peanuts then actual feathers or fluff. Later on I found out that there really were Styrofoam peanuts.

On the watch when I last saw it, it said it was nine twenty-three. I couldn't sleep a wink. I started to doze off, but then my nightmare came back, causing me to jolt upright in my bed. I jumped when the watch started beeping. Midnight. My eyes strained to stay open. They felt like they had been glued shut.

A blue light came from the watch and showed a small hologram of a small Doctor Cockroach. The hologram reminded me so much of the Princess Leia hologram from Star Wars Episode IV. I cringed when I thought of Dr. Cockroach in a princess Leia outfit. My eyes were straining to stay open and listen to the mini Dr. Cockroach hologram. It was just explaining the plan again to me. My body felt sore and my bat ears were slightly bent from how I slept on them.

Once the little Dr. C. hologram was done talking, the hologram went out and a small high pitch sound went off. The watch blew up and made a small neon blue mushroom cloud; and a star shaped scorch mark against the metal floor. I sighed as I got up, slipped on my shoes, pocketed my sunglasses, and cautiously slipped out of my cell.

I opened my cell and looked out. The big room was dark, but it didn't really matter with me. I looked up to the corners of the room. I noticed that the security cameras had something taped to the side of them. I hoped it was one of Dr. Cockroach's inventions that made us invisible to the cameras. I quietly snuck out and walked as quiet as I could over to the other side of the room where Insecto's cell was. I walked up to the wall and gently knocked on the wall 'shave and a haircut.' The wall opened up and Doctor Cockroach greeted me.

"Good evening, Bat. You ready?" he asked me. I nervously smiled. My stomach churned and I could feel my heart racing. I walked into the cell. Insecto made a strange sound above me, causing me to stop in my tracks. The cell was one hundred times bigger than mine, but wasn't at all enough for the huge creature. He was able to turn around and all that, but not free to wander about. If I was Insecto's size, I think I would have felt claustrophobic in it.

B.O.B., and Link were already in the cell. There was an old lamp in the middle of the room, but dimmed low. I guess for me since my eyes were sensitive to the light, and so Insecto isn't hypnotized by it. B.O.B. was excited to see me and gave me a hug. "You are going to get icecream with us too? That's awesome!" the clueless blue blob said happily. Apparently B.O.B. ate his watch once it started beeping and didn't know he had to meet here in Insecto's cell, and Doc had to go and get him.

"Took you long enough, Bat Brains," Link said, crossing his arms. I gave Link a look in the dim lighting of the huge cell. "At least I'm here, Fishstick," I snapped back in a loud whisper.

Dr. Cockroach stepped between us, looking down at his notes. "Don't start fighting you two. I don't want our plan to be ruined before we even get to start," Doctor Cockroach said firmly in a whisper. I closed my mouth. Link just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, if it works," he muttered. "You still haven't explained how you plan on getting Insecto out as well," Link added, patting Insecto's leg.

Doctor Cockroach told him not to worry and to just trust in him. Link went quiet. Insecto made a weird whimpering noise and moved his six arms. Link told him that everything was all right. "It's ok, buddy. I wont leave here without you," he promised, which I could tell he really meant it.

Just then, we heard a couple loud knocks. Doc opened the door and looked up. He smiled a warm smile. "Hello, my dear," he said in a soft, smooth voice. I heard Susan respond as she came in. "Sorry I'm late, I guess I fell asleep again when your hologram thingie started talking," she admitted, removing a strand of white hair from her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. Link laughed out loud. Doc blushed and dipped his antennae low. "...You aren't late at all my dear," was all he said.

Once Susan came into the cell, the cell door closed behind her. Susan smiled a big, happy smile. I could tell she was really excited about escaping.

"Oh I can't wait to see Derek again! I miss him so much," Susan said as she wrapped her arms around herself. I blinked and looked over to Doctor Cockroach and Link, who seemed to tense up their shoulders a little at the mention of the name.

"Who's Derek?" I asked.

"Susan's fiance," Doctor Cockroach answered. Link grunted.

Susan's answer was a little longer. "Oh! Derek is my wonderful soon-to-be-husband. He is a really nice guy! He is the weatherman in my hometown, Modesto California. You'd like him, he's really nice. Maybe you can meet him when we get out of here," she said. The mention of California perked my ears up a little. "California? I live in California too," I said. Link smirked. "Nice beaches there," he said. I nodded.

"I live about close to an hour away from the beach. I haven't gone in a while..." I found my voice fading a little. Immediately I felt homesick and wanted to be able to visit the beach. Go to the mall or the bookstore near my house...My house. I missed my room so much. The familiar comfort of my bed...

"Don't worry, Bat. Soon we will be out of here before you can say _jailbreak_ ," Doctor Cockroach said. I nodded my head silently.

Then it began.

Dr. Cockroach walked over to the other side of the enormous cell. He turned to me and told me to scream at a certain place in the wall. Link quickly climbed up Insecto's furry belly till he got up to the insect monster's huge head and told him not to freak out when I screamed; comforting his friend.

I hesitated for a moment once Link stopped talking to Insecto. I didn't like the idea of the monsters watching me. I closed my eyes and imagined them not watching me. I took a deep breath, and screamed. It came out half halfheartedly and I sounded like I was going through puberty or something. The wall shuddered a little and began to indent a little, but it didn't pierce a hole in it. I turned back around to face the monsters in the darkness. Link snorted as he came back down from Insecto's head. "What the heck was that? You call that a scream?" he asked, taking a couple steps up to me. I felt my face burn in embarrassment.

"Maybe we need to scare it out of her," said B.O.B. as he came up to me and placed his arms up. "Boo!" he said. Dr. Cockroach came up to him and gently brushed him aside. "That's for hiccups, B.O.B...but you aren't completely off," he added, thinking.

"I'll scare it out of her," Link volunteered as he grinned and punched his fist into his open palm. My ears went back and I took a step back. I saw Susan glare down at him in the dimly lit cell. "Don't you dare, Link."

Dr. Cockroach placed his arm out. "There will be no need for that, Link...maybe we should make her try again," Dr. Cockroach offered firmly before turning to me. "It's ok if you can't get it the first time. Try again," he told me. I nodded and turned back around.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I tried thinking back to when I saw Insecto. When the fear took over. I thought about when Link made me angry. I tried thinking of a lot of things to help build up the scream. Fear and anger were the biggest ones. I thought of how much I wanted to leave this place. These monsters were counting on me. I took a deep breath...

Suddenly, I felt something grab me and shake me a little. "Rawr!" Link roared from behind me. I screamed and continued screaming. Part of the wall exploded and created a huge hole. The hole in the wall was about twenty to twenty-five feet feet tall and twenty feet wide. My lungs emptied and I breathed in a huge breath. Then I jumped away from Link who stared at the hole I created. Link's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open.

"Woah," he said. I glared up at him. "What was that for?!" I asked angrily. Link turned his focus to me. "Just trying to help," he smirked, shrugging his broad, green shoulders. "You weren't helping!" Susan said, crouching down and gently poked Link with her index finger. Link turned to her and pointed to the wall. "I would say that I was a big help in this," he pointed out.

I growled as I bared my teeth, my fangs growing longer. Doctor Cockroach must have seen my anger rising as he quickly stood between us, blocking me from the fish-ape. Dr. C looked like he was going to say something against Link but thought against it. Instead he sighed and looked over to the wall with the huge hole in it. "...I guess since we can't undo the damage...literally. We best get a move on," he added.

Doc looked up at Susan and gestured to the hole. "Ladies first," he said in his British accent. Susan hesitated for a moment, fumbling with her fingers. "Um...could I take the lantern with me?" she asked hopefully. Doctor Cockroach looked over to the small lantern in the middle of the cell near Insecto's feet.

"Of course, my dear," the British monster said as he picked up the lantern. He turned the small, metal piece on the side to make the light inside glow brighter. I turned my head away to keep from blinding myself. He handed the small lantern up to Susan. The giantess took it and held the thin metal handle by her thumb and forefinger. In her possession, the lantern looked more like a functioning doll house item.

"Thank you," she said, smiling a nervous smile.

With that, she stood up a little, then ducked through the hole with the lantern somewhat lighting the way for her. Once Susan disappeared through the hole, Doc was going to gesture for me to go next, but B.O.B. took off next through the hole; his laughter echoing in the darkness.

Dr. C. sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose...well, I guess the place where he would have a nose. He silently gestured for me to go next. I silently stepped on through the hole and walked into the darkness. The hole opened up and I found myself in what looked to be like a huge metal, tunnel like shaft. The steel supports curved around like a whale's rib-cage. It stretched on forever, sometimes even sprouting off in opposite directions to new tunnels. Thick black cables ran through parts of the shaft like pythons. Susan could easily stand up and jump up in the air with her arms stretched upward and still not be able to touch the tunnel's ceiling.

I looked up and noticed B.O.B. and Susan about forty feet away from me, examining the endless tunnel. B.O.B. moved about like a hyperactive child; moving around and going upside down on the tunnel and coming back around, laughing in the process. Sometimes he would stop and just drip from the top and come back down like goo. Then his mass would plop back down to the floor and he would race back upside down again. In some weird way it kind of reminded me of a child at a playground going up and down the slide again and again.

Susan stood in the center and held the small lantern up as best as she could, looking around. The tunnel had an eerie dim blue light already in it, contrasting with the lantern's yellow light. How Dr. Cockroach persuaded Monger to have his own lantern, I will never know.

Just then, I heard a familiar deep voice back over at the entrance of the hole.

"Insecto!" I heard Link call.

Insecto lowered his head till his eye filled the hole, he peered at us and roared a small sad roar. The massive furry ball of insect couldn't fit through the hole, much less his head. He was too big. Link tried telling his buddy to try and squeeze through, or maybe try to eat his way through around the outside of the hole.

"Come on buddy! you can do it! Come on through!" Link said. Insecto tried fitting his head through, but he couldn't. He tried biting it, but the task was too difficult for him. He roared a sad pathetic roar that I'm sure translated to _"I can't do it."_

Dr. Cockroach grabbed Link's arm impatiently.

"Come on Link! We don't have time. We can come back later, but we need to-!" he started.

Suddenly red lights started to flash in the cell and a loud noise started blaring.

...go," Doctor Cockroach finished his sentence, his antennae drooping behind him. "Funny. Usually the alarms don't go off that fast. Usually takes them about two minutes and thirty seconds..." I heard him mutter.

Link shoved him away. "I'm not leaving Insecto!" He roared back at the mad bug scientist, his tail swishing angrily behind him. Dr. Cockroach glared at the fish ape. "We will come back for him later! I promise! Now come on!" he shouted. Link stared at Insecto with worry. Insecto stared back. His eyes were filled with fear. I felt a twinge of guilt in my heart. I came up to Link.

"Link-" I started. Link turned to me. His eyes widened, then he placed his hands on my shoulders, going down to my height. "Could you use your scream again? Please?! I promise not to scare you," He pleaded. I opened my mouth, but Doctor Cockroach grabbed me and pulled me along. "She will later! I promise we will come back for Insecto! But we need to go before they come after us!" he snapped. Link grabbed my other arm.

"Wait! I asked her to help me!" he shouted back. I got really worried as the two male monsters played tug-o-war with me; imagining my arms being ripped out of my body. Just when I started feeling pain in my shoulders, B.O.B. came up to the three of us. He stretched his blue arms out, grabbed me, and pulled me away while lifting me up over his head.

"Keep away!" he laughed as he turned around and ran into the darkness. I struggled and shouted at B.O.B. to put me down. Behind us, Link and Dr. Cockroach were chasing after the massive blue blob carrying me down the huge dark tunnel. "B.O.B.! Wait!" Link called. Behind them, I could hear Insecto roaring and whimpering from the other side of the hole. Susan saw us coming and had a confused look on her face. "What's-?" she started. Link and Doc gave her two different answers:

"Grab Bat!" shouted Link

"Follow the tunnel!" shouted Doctor Cockroach.

Susan saw B.O.B. coming. She quickly plucked me out of the blue blob's hands and placed me down on the ground. "Bat can walk on her own, B.O.B.," she told him. B.O.B. groaned. "We were playin' keep away." Dr. Cockroach came up and pushed the blob forward. "We can play keep away later, B.O.B., right now we need to focus on our prime directive: Escaping this prison."

"Not without Insecto. Come on, Bat," Link said as he ran back down the tunnel. Doc groaned. Susan gasped. "Link!" she called. Doc waved away her words. "Let him go. He can catch up with us. He knows the plan...if he listened...Come along, Bat!" With that, Doc, Susan and B.O.B. ran down further into the tunnel. I hesitated in place. While I really badly wanted to escape, I wanted to help Insecto. He did scare me when we first met, but at the same time I felt that he really badly wanted out as much as I did. As what Doc had said, none of us belonged in here.

I turned around and bolted after Link.

The red lights and blaring sounds stopped flashing and I was able to hear correctly. As I was running down the tunnel I heard something. I stopped and turned my head. About ten feet from me, I noticed a short tunnel connected to another tunnel that ran the same direction as the one I was in. In the other tunnel I heard footsteps. Quick footsteps, like someone was running; not towards me, but away from something.

I watched and waited, my bat ears sticking straight up and pointed straight forward, twitching to the sound. The figure came into the view of the short tunnel. I saw a flash of white and dark. The figure slowed and I was able to make out what it was. It was a scientist.

It wore a white lab coat and a pair of jeans and a grey long sleeved shirt. The figure was lanky, and I guess around six feet tall. Its hair was dark and unruly. It's gesture was strange, like it didn't quite understand its' body at all. The mysterious scientist stopped and noticed me from the other tunnel. I couldn't quite read its face, but it looked to be a male.

His eyes I couldn't quite make out. They were a color I couldn't describe. We stared at each other for what felt like hours, but was only about five seconds. I stayed completely still, my heart racing. Before I could react, the scientist bolted away, continuing down the tunnel he was running through. My feet felt rooted to the ground. I had no idea who the scientist was or why he was running away. What was he running from? Wasn't he part of Monger's men who were keeping us here?

Suddenly, a loud noise was heard from Insecto's cell. I spun around and gasped. Insecto was being lured away from the hole by a huge flood light suspended by cables. Insecto's eyes were big as he followed the light. Men in heavy military uniforms, masks and guns were seen pouring into the hole. Link stopped in his tracks. He was about twenty feet from them; also seeing that it was too late to save his friend. He then ran on all fours back, away from the approaching men.

He saw me with a look of pain and panic in his face. "Run!" he shouted to me. I didn't have to be told twice. I turned and sprinted as fast as I could. My wings flapping like flags behind me, causing me to move right and left a little. My wings kept catching bits of wind as I ran. I felt like I was slowing down. Link ran past me, down through the tunnel to where the others were just up ahead. Behind me, I could hear the men with guns right behind us. Their footsteps thundering almost in unison against the cold metal floor.

Up ahead, I could hear Link shouting to the others to run. The three stopped and turned. Susan screamed and ran. B.O.B. did the same and slid away. Doc started to half run but then slowed down, his eyes on me. "Bat! Secret weapon!" he shouted. I blinked. I nearly forgot my role.

I quickly turned around. The men were almost arms length away. Fear took over. I panicked. I took a deep breath, and screamed. This time it worked. The first row of men were sent back about ten feet and crashed into the other rows of men behind them. Some were knocked out of their boots and sent skidding backwards along the ground. The men were on the ground, dazed and confused as to what just happened. I gawked for a moment. I did it. I actually did it!

"Bat! Come on!" screamed Doctor Cockroach, snapping me out of my shock. I quickly turned back and ran after the monsters.


	8. Chapter 7: Escape (part 2)

Chapter 7: Escape (part 2)

My lungs started to burn and my breathing was starting to hurt as I caught up with the others. Ginormica was in the lead, running in long strides; with Link and Doc right at her heels. I was in the back, dying. I was not an athlete. I'm sure Doc wasn't either being a scientist and all, but his cockroach abilities really helped him keep up.

I tried flapping my wings to help me, but they were not fit to fly. They were like limp, useless arms. I stopped flapping them when I felt something whiz by my head. A bullet? I panicked. Were the guys chasing us shooting actual bullets at us? or were they tranquilizer darts. Either way, I didn't want to find out. The sudden panic gave me the extra burst of speed I needed. My wings flapped like wings right behind me.

Once we got near the end of the huge dark tunnel, Doc ran ahead of Susan, running on all fours and skittering like a cockroach. He made it to the end where a huge elevator was, it looked like it was big enough to lift heavy trucks and other machines. Doc pressed the button and motioned us to go inside.

"Hurry! Hurry! Come on!" he shouted. Susan ducked in first, then B.O.B. Link came up and started to argue with the bug headed scientist about leaving Insecto behind, but Doc didn't want to hear any of it and shoved him into the elevator. Once I came up, Doc grabbed my arm and turned me around to face the approaching armed men.

"Scream!" he commanded. "I screamed as loud as I could. The first line of masked men were sent flying backwards and collided with the others in the back. It was like watching a domino effect, or a bowling ball hitting all o the pins. After that, Doc pulled me into the elevator and pressed the top button on the panel. My mouth started to hurt and I felt like I got punched in the stomach after the scream.

"Halfway there," Doc muttered as the doors began to close. Once the huge doors were almost done closing, I saw between the gap that one of the masked men was getting up. He pulled something off of his uniform and tossed it towards the elevator. The object was dark and round like a ball. It rolled into the elevator just as the doors closed. It looked like a grenade. All five of us panicked and tried moving away from it, but it was difficult since Susan occupied most of the space. I was stuck next to Link. We were too close for comfort. I felt the elevator jolt a little and I felt it starting to go up.

Link kicked the ball away with his scaled fish tail. It rolled. The ball gently hit against the doors. Instantly a weird grey gas started pouring out of the ball. "Knock-out gas!" Doctor C. cried as he quickly placed his hands over the ball, but it didn't seem to help. We all held our breaths.

He quickly turned to B.O.B. and held out the ball. "B.O.B.! here's some...c...andy..." He started to sway and his antennae started to drop. Susan quickly placed her hand out. Doc fell into her hand and the ball rolled over to us.

I picked up the ball and tried giving it to B.O.B. while holding my breath. B.O.B. wasn't holding his breath. He didn't seemed to be affected by the gas that was filling up in the elevator as it continued going up.

"Oh! For me? You shouldn't have," B.O.B. smiled as he took the knock out gas ball and ate it. I sighed with relief, but didn't let myself physically exhale so soon. The elevator stopped and the doors open. Link pushed me out of the way so he could be the first one out to breathe fresh air and not be knocked out by the gas. Susan followed suit, carrying Doc. I followed after them, with B.O.B close behind me. I started to feel a little light headed from holding my breath.

Up ahead, Link had his arms up. I breathed out. Past the fish man was over fifty uniformed men with guns pointed right at us. Doc came to and rubbed his head, groaning softly. Susan placed him back on his feet, just as he looked up and noticed that we were stuck. "Oh...schist," Doctor Cockroach said.

"Get your hands up!" ordered one of the men. I started to raise my hands up, then cupped them around my mouth. "Link! Get down!" I shouted. Link didn't turn around. He immediately knew what I was going to do. He instantly dropped to the ground. The men opened fire. I screamed. I screamed for what felt like hours, watching all the men get flung backwards as if they were each tied to cables and pulled back. It was pretty spectacular. Like an awkward dance in the air. Like they were floating in zero gravity. An air ballet.

Link stayed safe under the sonic waves of my scream as they passed over him. His back fins swayed from the waves as if they were in a windy storm. When I was done, I fell to my knees. So much energy had drained out of me and I felt that my throat was starting to really hurt. I felt as if I had the worst sore throat. I heard the ammo from the guns drop from where they were suspended in mid air from my scream and rain down to the floor. It sounded like a short hailstorm on a tin roof as they made contact with the cold metal floor.

Once I had stopped, Link got up and turned to me. "That was awesome!" he said to me grinning. I felt my face blush from his compliment. I was surprised to see him like that. Even his wide grin surprised me. I only remembered him smile at me when we first met.

My eyes widened when I saw a couple of the guys get up and come charging towards us with strange weapons that looked like rods with electricity sparking off at the ends. "Watch out!" I tried to say, but it came out hoarse and almost like a whisper. I pointed behind Link. Link turned around and saw the man half charging half staggering towards us. Link grinned and flexed his muscles.

"Cool! Some action! I've been itching to kick some butt," Link laughed in excitement as he cracked his knuckles. Then he came charging towards the men. The men stopped dead in their tracks and started running the opposite direction, but it was too late. Link grabbed them and smacked their heads together. Another man got up and tried shooting the eight foot tall fish man. Link grabbed his gun and broke it in half with his two hands. Then he picked the guy up and lifted the guy over his head. He turned and chucked the guy at two other guys who were just getting up.

"Link! Come on let's go!" shouted Doctor Cockroach from where he was. He was still a little messed up from the knock out gas. He pointed over to where a small vent system was, several hundred feet down a hallway along the wall where we came out from the elevator. Susan and B.O.B. followed after Doc. I tried getting up, but I felt like my legs had turned to jelly. Link ran past me. "Come on, slowpoke! or should I say, slow-bat!" he laughed. I rolled my eyes and sighed to myself. I finally got to my feet and slowly shuffled along.

I arrived with everyone else at the place Doc was leading us to. It was a big air vent, but not big enough for Susan to fit through. I then realized that me and B.O.B. were the only ones who could fit through. "Bat. B.O.B., we need you two to go through this vent and get into the room on the other side," Dr. C. explained. I tried talking, but my voice wasn't working. Doc noticed. His face started to grow pale. "Oh dear. That's not good, well let's hope we don't need you to use your scream." He motioned for us to go through the vent.

B.O.B. went first, stretching himself like a blue snake with one giant eye through the open vent. I went down on my hands and knees and crawled after the blob. "Be careful," Susan called after me. I followed along in the darkness. Up ahead, B.O.B. ate a couple obstacles that would have stopped me from completing the task. There were a couple metal rotating fans inside, I guess for the circulating air to go into the rooms, bolted down. B.O.B. ate them and digested them like they were no big deal. Once we got to the end, B.O.B. broke through the vent door and formed back to his regular dome shape self. I silently got up and brushed the dust off of my black pants.

"Oh wow..." I heard B.O.B. say ahead of me. I lifted my head up. My eyes widened in shock. The room was bigger than a warehouse. It held hundreds of different military and government aircraft, and some I wasn't sure was from this earth.

My bat ears perked up when I heard Doc's voice from the other side of the wall from behind me. I turned around and approached the wall.

"Bat? B.O.B.? You there?" Doc asked. I knocked shave and a haircut, hoping he would know that it was me since I couldn't talk. "We are here, Doc!" shouted B.O.B., causing me to flinch. B.O.B. noticed and gapped. "I scared you!" he realized. I shook my head in disagreement, but he had already turned around and started going over to the planes and telling them that he had made me jump. I sighed silently and turned back to the wall.

"Ok good," I heard Doc's muffled voice say. "Allright, do you see any code panels? Knock once for yes, and two for no," he asked. I looked long the huge wall. I saw one over to the far right. I walked over to it and knocked once.

"Good," I heard him say again. I heard Doc, Link and Susan shuffle over to where I was from the other side. "Could we hurry this up?" I heard Link complain from the other side. I just rolled my eyes and ignored him and just listened to Doc's instructions. In a couple of minutes, with the help from Dr. C., I was able to get the huge doors to open.

"Good work, Bat, I knew I could count on you," Doc said smiling to me as he briskly walked around me and tied the wires back so the doors would close, just in case if any more soldiers came to stop us. Susan walked past me and smiled down at me. I smiled back. Link snorted and brushed past me. "I could've done it," he muttered. I rolled my eyes and followed after them.

Link and Susan walked up to the biggest aircraft in the collection of aircrafts.

It was ginormous. Bigger than any plane I had ever seen. Big enough to hold Susan in. On the up side, there were no guards or armed men in sight...but I'm sure by this time more were coming. On the down side I couldn't use my screaming powers anymore. So we were going to have to rely on Link possibly.

Once Doc joined us, he took a huge breath and exhaled. Then he turned his head to us and clasped his hands together. "Alright! This is it everyone," he said. I was very nervous. Doc pointed to Link.

"Link, follow me to the cockpit and help me start it up." Link did a mock salute. "You got it," he said. Doc turned to B.O.B. who was still talking to one of the planes.

"...I'm sure you just heard...I just scared Bat...I know right? I never thought I could but I did!" he said excitedly. Doc sighed. "B.O.B.! Come here!" he called. B.O.B. turned. "Be right there!" Then he waved goodbye to his plane friend and came over. "Hey guys! did you know I just scared Bat?" he asked. I silently groaned. Link chuckled. "Oh really?" he asked.

Doc ignored B.O.B. and Link and continued leading the group. "B.O.B., You and Susan head to the back of the craft." Susan nodded. "Come on B.O.B." The blue blob followed after Susan. "I scared Bat, Susan!" he told her as they walked around the huge plane.

Then Doc turned to me. "I guess you can choose to go to the back with Susan and B.O.B., or join us in the front," he offered. I already knew I was not of use anymore since my scream powers took a toll on my throat. I decided to join Doc and Link in the front since I didn't want to get sick in the back. I usually got sick on any transportation. Car, plane, boat, train, everything, so I might as well sit in the front.

I followed the two male monsters to the plane.

Suddenly we heard a loud noise behind us. We turned around, just as the huge doors exploded towards us. We braced ourselves as the bits of door and smoke came erupting towards us. The loud explosion caused me to cry out. I clamped my hands over my huge dish like bat ears and faltered to my knees.

The sound was so loud and excruciatingly painful. It was like someone decided to put a dozen of the biggest speakers around me and play a horrible song with the volume turned up to max. I felt tears come to my eyes as the sounds were immediately gone and replaced with a high pitch ringing sound. Everything was distorted and confusing.

From the smoke I saw over a hundred masked armed men come pouring in. With them I could see Monger. He shouted something to us, but I couldn't hear a word that he was saying. I gasped in horror and turned to Link and Doc.

The two were shouting at me, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I opened my mouth and tried to scream, but nothing came out. Fearing I was permanently deaf, I tried hitting my bat ears, hoping that it would bring the sound back. Doc and Link both grabbed my arms to stop me from hitting myself, and half pushed, half carried me into the plane. We opened the door in the side of the plane, walked up what felt like two flights of stairs and opened a door that led into the cockpit.

Link placed me into a chair. I was screaming to them that I couldn't hear. My voice was sore and felt raw. I couldn't even hear myself screaming. It scared me. Link finally placed his huge scaly hand over my mouth and placed a finger to his fish lips. I burst into tears. I lost my ability to hear. I was freaking out. My shoulders shook.

Link turned when I guess Doc told him something. Doc was at the controls, trying to get the plane to take off. Link turned back to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. He started to talk slowly so I could read his lips.

 _"It's. Ok. Don't. Freak, Out,"_ I read from him. Tears continued to run down my face as I stared back at him.

The plane jostled a bit as it started to lift up. The ringing continued, and small muffled sounds from outside the plane. I turned my head to the window to look out. Outside, I could see the general and the soldiers trying to shoot at the plane and get inside, but the plane, thankfully, was bulletproof. Some of the men were trying to keep the bay doors from opening. Doc turned to Link and motioned for him to come to the controls and help him. Link turned back to me.

 _"Stay. Calm.,"_ he mouthed to me before turning and going over to where Doc was. I lifted my knees to my chest and hugged them. Suddenly the plane started to buck and tilt to one side. My chair had wheels so it started to roll. I quickly planted my feet down to keep myself from rolling and crashing into the other side of the plane.

Link and Doc held on to whatever they could. I turned to them. Doc was shouting at me and pointing at a button that was closest to me on the planes control panel. I worked my way to the button and pressed it. Doc grabbed the wheel of the plane and pulled them forward. The plane balanced out and continued going up. Doc mouthed 'thank you' to me.

Before I could do anything, the plane bucked again. I lost my balance and fell backwards. I landed on my wings, which was not fun. First I lost my voice, then my hearing, now I was in more pain and losing feeling in my wings. What a wonderful day.

There was more difficulty as we tried going up. From what I could understand. There were controls to open the doors above us to allow us to fly out of here. Down side for that, there were controls in the plane, as well as below where Monger and the masked men were. Doc was trying to hack the system to allow only the planes controls to open the doors, overriding the controls below.

The tense minutes passed and felt like hours. I gripped to the side of the handle of the door. The door suddenly opened, startling me, and in came B.O.B. He said something that I couldn't read to me. I tried saying that I couldn't hear him, but it was no use. Link tried pushing B.O.B. back through the doorway, but ended up walking through the blue mass and ending up on the other side, and falling through the doorway. I would have laughed if I wasn't so scared, and if I wasn't in my worse current situation.

Suddenly the plane bucked again and slanted. I felt the plane's wing scrape up against the round metal walls. Doc continued to furiously press buttons and flipping switches; pulling the plane's wheel towards him to go up. Link came back and quickly rushed to Doc's side.

After a couple of long seconds, the two finally placed their hands up in excitement and turned to each other with wide smiles on their faces. They laughed and gave each other high fives. They did it. They were able to take over the system and allow the doors above us to go through.

Doc, Link and B.O.B. celebrated. To me it looked like they were mimes, dancing to a song with one long note that only I could hear. Link slapped Doc on the back. Doc grinned and gave Link a grin and another high five. B.O.B. gave me a gooey hug.

I started to suffocate and started to go into his body. Doc told B.O.B. that he was suffocating me. B.O.B. quickly released me. I fell to my hands and knees. I was in a filmy blue layer of goo. I felt B.O.B.'s deep laughter in the floor of the plane.

I slowly got up and started to wipe off the blue goo that was on my shirt and wings.

We did it.

We were free.

As we rose higher and higher up, it got more and more brighter.

My eyes winced a little from the light. I quickly fished out my sunglasses and placed them on. I cautiously moved to the shadows, not wanting to burn up after just getting out of prison.

"The sun! Goodbye electric heat rock!" I saw Link say, or it might have been 'metric sleet smock.' I think I was right the first time,but I couldn't even imagine Link on a life size heating rock for reptiles. Link pressed his hand against the window and smiled, but his smile gradually left and his fins started to droop a little. My bat ears drooped as well. I immediately knew what he was thinking about and felt guilty for him. He was thinking about Insecto, still captured and in prison. Link cared so much for that overgrown furry insect. I wished that Insecto had made it and escaped with us.

Before I could do anything, Doc came up to me, interrupting my thoughts. "You did brilliant Bat," said Doc, mouthing to me and patting me on the shoulder. All I could hear was the long high pitch shrill in my ears. I think it was starting to diminish a little. Doc smiled nd nodded his huge cockroach head before turning back to the front and steering the plane.

The plane rose up until it passed the open ceiling and revealed the outside world. All around us was desert. Orange and red sand for miles, kissing the bright blue endless skies. I breathed in awe.

I moved to the front, in between Link and Doc, and looked out the window. It was beautiful. I watched a couple of birds fly by the massive stolen government plane. As I watched them fly, I began to think of my wings. I turned and looked at my bat wings and tried controlling them to flap. They gave a weak flap before falling back down to the floor. Limp. I looked back out the window and watched as the birds flew away.

As I watched, I wondered if I'd be able to fly someday. I sighed, watching the birds disappear from my view.

Someday…

With that, Doc pushed the plane's controls forward, and the huge plane gradually leaned forward and took off through the blue skies; flying away from our secret underground prison.

The sacred moment of freedom was suddenly broken when I noticed Doc, Link and B.O.B. all turn their heads to the speaker to their right. I couldn't hear it of course, but tried placing my hand over the round black mesh of the speaker. My senses suddenly kicked in and I was able to hear from the vibrations of the speaker.

It was Monger, and he sounded pissed. His heavy screaming vibrations flowed through my hand to my head, and I was able to decipher what he was saying. I could even hear his Texan accent as well.

"-You haven't lost me yet, monsters!" I caught the last bit, and the speaker went out. Just then, the plane jolted, causing the plane to rock from side to side. I kept my balance. Link and B.O.B. rushed past me and through the door. I turned and followed them.

Once I walked through the door, I found myself in the back. The cargo part of the plane. I watched Link and B.O.B. run up a couple stairs and along a catwalk that hugged along the walls of the plane. In the cargo, among a couple boxes, Susan sat. She had her back to me, and was looking out a tiny window. She flinched, and turned to face us. She opened her mouth and said something in panic, but I couldn't read what she said.

Link and B.O.B. looked out one of the small rectangular windows near them. I walked along near them and found a window for myself to look out to. Far away, but gaining speed, was another plane, half as big as ours. I didn't have to have anyone tell me that it was Monger in that plane.

He was coming after us.


	9. Chapter 8: The Chase

Chapter: 8 The Chase

"What's your plan now, genius?" I saw Link snap at Doc, his fish tail swishing angrily behind him. We had gone back to the front of the jet. Doc ignored him as he gripped the main controls. "Hold on everyone!" he shouted. I'm guessing he shouted it, but to me it sounded like a faint whisper. I was starting to slowly gain my hearing back.

I held on to a handle on the back wall and braced myself. Link continued to yell at Doc as he held on to something near him. Doc forced the controls down, causing the huge jet to dip. I felt my body go up into the air, causing me to tighten my grip. Doc veered to the left and pulled up. My legs turned to jelly and gave up on me. Link kept his feet planted firmly on the ground. I flopped around like a fish out of water. It felt like I was in a mash-up ride of The Tower of Terror and California Screamin' from Disneyland. Doc turned the controls sharply to the left. From where I could see, I noticed a sand formation pass by.

Doc pulled the controls towards him, making the jet rise up and up to the skies. The sun flashed against the windshield. I tensed up and closed my eyes behind my sunglasses. The sun's rays burned my eyes. I tensed up from it. I wasn't one hundred percent sure if the sun made contact with me, but if it did, I didn't feel like I was on fire or burning to ashes.

Then we went back down and leveled out, soaring through the air, above the desert lands.

Link tried grabbing the controls, but Doc slapped his free hand away and continued steering the massive craft. The two fought, each of their hands on one of the sticks of the main controls. They pulled back and forth with it, like a game of tug-o-war. Their actions caused the jet to move right, then left and right again. I watched as the two bickered.

I rolled my eyes, then got up and tried getting in-between the two male monsters to make them stop. They ignored me and shouldered me out of the way. I stumbled back a bit and glared at the two. I stopped when I looked straight out of the window and saw that we were about to hit a tall sand formation.

I called their names and pointed out the window. They stopped fighting and turned their heads towards the window. Both male monsters panicked. Link released his grip on the controls as Doc took the controls and veered to the right. The jet turned towards the left. I fell back and tumbled to the right. The jet's wing scraped against the tall rock formation.

I screamed in fear, completely forgetting about my new power, and causing the windshield of the jet to explode in tiny shards of glass. The I felt a sudden rush of winds from the open window of the jet, causing anything that wasn't fastened down to fly wildly about before being sucked out of the open shattered window. The ends of Doc's starch white lab coat flapped madly in the strong wild winds.

Doc jolted in alarm from the sudden explosion of glass as he continued to drive the jet. We made it past the rock formation and took to the skies, past the clouds. Link turned his head to me; his back fins flapping in the winds. He gave me a look. I quickly looked away and pretended to look innocent. I whistled the tune of innocence.

The whole scene was somewhat comical since I couldn't really hear a thing, like watching a silent film...Everything going crazy while being quiet at the same time. Link came up to me, placing his hand against the ceiling of the plane as he came closer to me. He helped me up to my feet, led me to the door that opened to the back of the hold. He opened the door, gently pushed me in, and closed the door behind me. I guess I wasn't much help there.

B.O.B. saw me first and came up to me. I couldn't really hear what he was saying as he wrapped his blue arms around me and gave me a gooey hug. I tried telling him to let go of me. Suddenly the jet leaned to my left, causing me to submerge into B.O.B.'s body. I started to freak out. I felt like I was swimming in thick hair gel. I moved around, but couldn't seem to get out of the blob.

Before I decided to scream, B.O.B. threw me up and I fell to the ground, covered in blue slime. I rolled over on my hands and knees, coughing and gasping; breathing in gulps of wonderful air. My sunglasses hanging loosely from my face.

Susan's head loomed over me, her eyes wide with terror. I felt her loud voice in the ground, but couldn't tell what she was saying. Suddenly the jet dipped again. I instantly felt sick and placed my hand over my mouth. My wings trembled and shook, dripping in blue slime. The whole jet shook. I looked up and saw that Susan had stumbled over some big wooden crates and fell backwards and hit against the back of the hold.

I got up to my feet, shaking; adjusting my sunglasses. When I did, I noticed that they were thick with blue goo. I took them off, wiped them on the ends of my shirt, then placed them back on. B.O.B. left my side and went over to look out the window in the back.

I slowly made my way down the stairs, then across the cargo hold to where a small window was. I looked through it and saw that Monger's jet was gaining on us. Alongside his jet were several other jets. They zipped past Monger's jet and were gaining speed. Heading straight for us. My eyes widened when I saw guns come out from the smaller jets.

They were going to shoot us out of the sky!

I looked over to Susan, who was rubbing her head from hitting it against the metal wall. B.O.B. was drawing happy faces in the dust on one of the windows. I turned back, the smaller jets were closer now. I quickly waved my arms to get Susan's attention. She stopped rubbing her head and looked down at me.

"Hold onto me!" I shouted. Susan gave me a quizzical look, but finally decided to do what I said. She wrapped her huge fingers loosely around me. I turned back to the window, a couple feet from me. I took a deep breath, and screamed.

Part of the metal wall of the cargo hold ripped away and was sent flying through the air, and disappeared. Winds whipped through the cargo hold. Susan's fingers tightened around me. I lifted my hands up to hold the arms of my sunglasses to keep them from flying off of my face.

I took a deep breath and screamed again. The metal edges around the hole I created shuddered, while other parts from it ripped away, making the hole even bigger than before. There was a pause, then the two jets that were coming for us, suddenly were sent off course and sent flipping multiple times backwards towards Monger's jet.

I watched as Monger's jet quickly zip around the first jet through the air, and then the other one. I watched as the two jets went down. Thankfully the two pilots ejected out of their crafts and opened their parachutes. I smiled in triumphant. Susan picked me up and started shouting at me. Her eyes were wide in fear. I couldn't' really hear what she was saying, but pretended I did. My ears went down so it made me look guilty. I assumed she was upset at me for destroying our jet and risking our lives to take down those jets. I guess whenever we lose Monger and find a place to land, I could explain why I did it.

Suddenly, I saw Susan stop talking to me. She turned her head over to the back of the cargo hold. Her eyes widened even more and screamed. I turned and looked over to where she was looking. My eyes widened as well. Monger's jet was right up against ours. He was so close, we could see his face through the windshield. He looked mad. Susan held me close to her chest like a doll and pulled her legs closer to her body.

Before we could do anything, we saw Monger push a button on his control panel. We waited for something to happen. Nothing happened. I stared right at Monger. Monger's face changed. He smirked and gave us a small wave. Just then, we felt our jet jolt and shake uncontrollably. Monger's jet slowed, pulling away from ours, then hovered in the air. Our jet jolted and shook some more, then I felt the engines die, then the jet arched downward and began to nose dive. I slipped from Susan's grasp and felt my body rise up. I flapped my useless gel covered wings.

I felt my back hit against the ceiling of the jet. As the jet continued to turn downward, I began to slide and roll along the ceiling, towards the hole I created in the back of the cargo. I heard my monster name in a faint whisper. I couldn't see who. I couldn't even tell what was up and what was down.

I moved along the ceiling till all I felt was air. I flipped and twirled uselessly through the open air, falling right behind the jet. I screamed. I felt my sunglasses rip away from my face and fly away into the winds. The brightness from the daylight blinded me. I felt dizzy and disoriented. My whole body tensed up in panic. I couldn't breathe. The air felt so thin. I was going to die. Any minute now. As I fell, I could feel the ground rising underneath me.

My hair and wings flapping and hitting my face. Over and over I turned, as well as the world. Blue skies. Orange ground. Blue skies. Orange ground. Blue skies. Orange ground...then black...


	10. Chapter 9: Baring Fangs

Chapter 9: Baring Fangs

...

 _I had the same nightmare again. I was standing over the cliff, looking out over the ocean. Above, the moon was huge and hung over the waters, turning them silver. The wind rustled through my hair, and when I looked down I noticed that I was wearing a white dress. I looked down at my arms and legs. I was normal. No bat ears, no wings. I was human. As I always am before the fall. I heard a sound from behind me. I turned around and saw a figure standing behind the dark tree near me._

 _It was the scientist. The scientist with the indistinguishable face. He peeked out from behind the tree. What was he doing here? He stared at me from where he was. His eyes seemed to be yellow, but his face shifted and changed slightly. I couldn't make out any details. His hair seemed to move as if it were its own thing. Mostly dark brown and messy, curly, straight. Changing slightly. His eyes were bright yellow, then green, then blue, and back to yellow. His skin tone changed as well. From dark to light, then dark again. It was like he couldn't decide._

 _I tried to speak, but before I could, I heard a loud sound over us, and a couple blinding lights right after. I raised my hands over my face and took a couple steps back. Once I did, I felt my foot fall. Before I knew it, I was falling. Again-_

I woke up with a start and sat bolt upright. I gasped and breathed heavily. My chest ached when I breathed. I looked down and noticed bandages wrapped tightly around my stomach. I looked at my arms and wings. They too had bandages wrapped around them. My head throbbed in pain. I lifted my hand up and found an ice-pack there. It slid down and fell on my lap. Once it did, I took it off and looked around to where I was.

I was in a dark, familiar room. My monster cell.

I cursed in my head as I got up from my cot bed. I stumbled and fell to my knees, dropping the ice-pack in the process. I laid there on the ground for a while; trying to gain pieces of my memory back. _How did I end up here? What happened to the jet? Where is everyone else?_ My head throbbed again and I had to stop for a moment. Once the pain left, I attempted getting up again. My bat wings didn't help. They weighed me down. I tried lifting them up, but they trembled and eventually I let them go back down and drag along the cold floor.

I walked over to the wall where the button was. I pushed it and the wall opened up. My eyes instantly stung and I cried out from the sudden blinding light. I turned away and squeezed my eyes shut. I cursed under my breath. Dammit. I forgot to grab my sunglasses.

"Hold on, Bat! Stay right there!" I heard a familiar British accented voice say. I also realized that I was able to hear again. The sounds were so delicious and beautiful to my ears. Oh how I missed sound. I stayed put as I heard him scuttle up to me, pull something out of his lab-coat pocket, and place my sunglasses on my face.

I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head back. Doc smiled down at me. I could see my reflection in his huge bug like eyes. "Glad to see you up and about, Bat," he said cheerfully. Dazed, I looked over past him. Link, B.O.B. and Susan were in the main room too. They came up from behind Doc.

B.O.B. grinned at the sight of seeing me and stretched his arms out for a big hug. Thankfully Doc stopped him from giving me an attack hug and told him to give me some space to breathe and let my whole body heal. Link came up to me on all fours.

"How ya feelin,' Batsy?" he asked. I looked up at him in surprised. He was being sincere with me. "I'm-" I started, then Link pointed at my bandages. "You look more part-mummy than part-bat," Link joked as he chuckled. I tensed up a little, feeling the bandages tighten against my body. I sighed and ignored the fish-man's comment. Instead, I turned my focus to the others.

"What happned? How did we get back here?" I asked. Link stopped laughing as the others exchanged sad glances. Susan was the first to speak up. I craned my head to look up at her.

"Well...After you fell out of the plane...we were able to avoid crashing. Doc was able to quickly climb out onto the jet and fix the damages, while Link piloted the jet. Once we landed, we were surrounded by a whole bunch of army men and their guns," Susan said, removing a strand of white hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear.

"And now we are stuck back here, in this prison," Link huffed angrily, throwing his arms up into the air. I winced a little as my ears flicked back. "...I fell out of the plane?" I asked. Susan nodded. "Yes...don't you remember?"

I thought for a moment. Everything was a bit fuzzy. I don't recall much. I looked back down at my bandages. "...If I fell out of the jet...shouldn't I be...?" my voice trembled a little. Doc hesitated on answering my question. "Nobody knows, Bat. Monger says he just found you all battered and bruised on the ground about two miles away from where we landed."

I let his words sink in. That couldn't be possible. I...no. I fell out of the plane. The plane had to be hundreds of feet up. I would never have survived that. I should be dead.

I jolted when a huge wave of pain hit me. I held my head and groaned. Doc quickly came to my aid. "You still need to rest. I'll escort you back to bed," he said. B.O.B. came up to me and placed his blue hand over my forehead. "You sure she needs to rest more, Doc? I mean, she's been sleeping for three days...also I can't seem to feel any heartbeats from her..." he noticed as he removed his hand and stared at my forehead.

My eyes widened in shock. "I've been out for three days?!" I cried out in disbelief turning to the bug-headed scientist. Doc winced and nodded his head slowly. "Erm...yes, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is you getting better. Do you need anything? Are you feeling hungry? I can bring things to your cell if you'd like," he offered as he led me back to my cell.

I felt very weak and tired. My stomach was empty and felt as though it were eating itself from the inside. I was craving for food...anything except for pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I was already getting sick of them.

Before I started heading back towards my cell, I heard a familiar noise. I stopped and rolled my eyes, turning around to face the one man I despised the most at the moment. Apparently I was the first to hear him coming. Monger.

"Morning, Miss Batsy! Hope you had a good three day sleep!" He said in his Texan accent as he slowly descended down through the air on his stupid jet pack. Sometimes I felt that he was mocking me, being able to fly, even though he didn't have wings like me. I really needed to figure out how to fly.

I didn't answer him as I looked down at the ground. He landed in front of me. Doc tried answering for me, but Monger interrupted him and continued staring at me. "Enough of the greetings...I wanted to ask you about your powers," he finally said. I flinched a little. Doc and the others went silent. Monger turned to Doc. "Private conversation, go back to the others, Doc," he finally said. I looked over to Doctor Cockroach. The male monster straightened up, gave me a quick side long glance, then turned on his heels and marched back to the others.

"Walk with me," Monger said. Deep down I wanted to say no. I wanted to use my sonic scream on him, send him flying across the room, and then hide in my cell; but I thought against it and found myself walking silently walking next to Monger. We were basically just walking to the other side of the main prison room, which I realized wasn't that big after coming back from escaping.

"So...you have powers...when did this happen?" he started. I didn't say anything. Monger continued. "When did you find out that you had these powers? Do you have any other powers?" he asked. I stayed silent. Monger sighed. I could tell that he was a bit peeved that I wasn't answering. I didn't care, I didn't like the guy. He was keeping us all prisoners. Monger spoke again, thankfully it wasn't another question about my powers.

"I'm guessing you are now wondering if we are going to do something about that," he mentioned. I shook my head. "I'm sure you already experimented on me while I was unconscious," I said. Monger shook his head. "Negative. We did not conduct any experiments on you. We are not that malicious and cold-hearted," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Noooo, of course not. Keeping us as prisoners and nearly killing us when we try to escape, you guys are treating us like royalty," I said, my voice dripping in sarcasm. Monger stopped and turned to me. "Watch what you say, girlie. I don't take kindly to people who sass me. I am protecting you monsters. The government alone wanted to kill any monster that showed up on radar," he explained. I frowned from behind my sunglasses.

"Didn't you say you were part of the government?" I asked. Monger nodded. "Yes, but I was one of the few who argued against killing monsters. This..." He gestured to the main prison room we were in. "...was the best I could do...You should be thanking me for saving your butt," he said. I felt the anger in my body bubble and boil. I bared my teeth.

"Thanking you? Why should I be thanking you?! Thanking you for taking away my freedom? Taking me away from my family? my friends? my life?" I shouted. "I was once a normal human! I didn't ask for this to happen!" I shouted as I gripped one of my bat ears. It hurt, so I let go of it and continued to shout at Monger.

" _You_ should be thanking me that I don't rip out your throat!" I threatened, my fangs growing long. Monger simply smirked. "I'd like to see you try, bat-girl," he challenged. I exhaled out of my nose. I knew why he was doing this. He knew I couldn't hurt him. One step and I'd be tranquilized, and then wake up in my room again...or in a lab with a whole bunch of scientists poking and prodding me with metal instruments. I didn't want to take that chance.

I gave him a glare before turning my back on him and walking away. I could hear Monger's heart in his chest beating fast and loud. He actually got scared. He was terrified of me. That made me feel a little better, but I wanted to see him grovel before my feet. I opened the door to me cell, and stepped inside. The door closed behind me and I was alone, back in my world of darkness.

...


	11. Chapter 10: Legends and Stories

Chapter 10: Legends and Stories

The next day I came out from my cell. I was the first one up. I decided to sit down at the table and draw. There was a small stack of paper and a cup of pencils already waiting for me at the table. I took a sheet of paper from the stack and a pencil and began thinking of what to draw.

My mind wandered a little till I thought of the scientist. As my pencil ran across the page, I tried remembering all the details of the strange scientist. I drew everything except for his face. His face was literally blank. I stared down at the blank space where the strange scientist's face should be. No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't see the scientists face. His eyes were the only thing I could somewhat make out. They changed color...and they glowed.

My ears picked up a couple sounds from behind me. I could instantly tell from the different sounds of heavy footsteps and soft footsteps, and the dragging of a scaly tail that it was Link and Dr. Cockroach. I turned around before Link could even think of trying to do anything while my back was turned.

"Good morning, Bat...what are you drawing?" The bug headed scientist asked as he came up to me. I turned back around and picked up the sheet of paper to show him. "The figure I saw in the tunnels...when we were trying to escape..." I explained. Link and Doc exchanged surprised glances. I continued. "I was never able to ask while we were escaping." Link was the first to look back at me. "When did you see this...figure?" he asked me. I turned to him. "When you said you didn't want to leave without Insecto...I followed you, and I saw someone...a scientist I think...He was weaing a white lab coat, so I assume he is one," I replied.

Doctor Cockroach gave me a look. "A scientist? In the shafts? That can't be right," he said. Link spoke up. "Maybe you just saw Doc's reflection or something," he offered. I shook my head. "But I saw him," I continued. "He was standing in another tunnel across from the one we were in...He looked like he was running from something...He had a white lab coat, a dark shirt and pants...and..." my voice faded when I couldn't decribe his face looked like. Not exactly remember, but make out what it looked like. It was almost as if his face was...shifting...

"Maybe you were just imagining things," Link said. I frowned at him. "I didn't imagine it. Why would I say I saw a scientist with an undistinguished face running around in the shafts?" I asked him. Link smirked. "Maybe you are going... _batty,"_ he chuckled. My left bat ear twitched in irritation. The action only made him laugh harder.

"You couldn't distinguish his face?" Doc asked. I nodded my head and pointed at the picture. "That's why I just drew a blob for his face," I explained. Doc stared at the picture and took it from me. He scratched his chin as he stared down at it with his huge hazel eyes.

"Interesting..." he muttered. He said other things as well but I couldn't understand a word of it. He silently gave the paper back. "I wish I knew what you saw...it might have been another monster? maybe one of the government's scientists? Who knows...Hopefully he was able to escape if that was his objective," Doc said. Link and I silently nodded in agreement.

The subject changed to asking what me and Monger talked about yesterday. I kept it short. I didn't really want to get into much detail. Link was amused by it. He wished that I screamed at Monger. "Next time he pisses you off, send him flying, that would be awesome!" he said grinning, his teeth all sharp and pointy. I smiled a small smile, now wishing that I had. After that, I went back to drawing.

Soon, Susan, Insecto and B.O.B. came out of their cells to join us.

It had been four and a half days since the attempt of escape. Link had reunited with Insecto. Insecto didn't seem upset that we had almost escaped without him. Link was happy to be with his friend, but I could hear his heart beat heavily in pain. He ached for the outside world, as did the rest of us.

We all tried to not think about it and continued on with our prison life. While I drew on my sheets of paper more attempts of escape, Doc requested for a book on vampires. I asked him why he was asking for a book on vampires. He kept his voice low when he told me.

"I'm curious to see if there is anything in the book that will tell me if you are a possible vampire... or a special type of vampire." I gave him a blank look. "Why?" I asked. Doc didn't say anything when Monger came back with a stack of books on vampires and demons. I avoided Monger's gaze, even when he left.

"I was thinking about this while you were unconscious...if you are a vampire, or some special type of vampire, we can figure out what other abilities you have and use them to escape from this place," he explained. My shoulders sagged a little. I know this was my first attempt of escaping from this place with the other monsters, but I had nearly died. This was Dr. Cockroach's two-hundred and something attempt and he still had the confidence that the next plan wasn't going to fail. Deep down I wish I had the mad scientist's confidence.

Dr. Cockroach's anntenae twitched excitedly as he opened the big vampire book to the first page. "Would you like me to read this out loud?" he asked me. I nodded my head. Dr. C. smiled and nodded back. "All right, here we go," he said. I sat cross legged in the chair next to him as I listened to him read from the book.

"Vampires have been known for centuries..." he started. I listened intently, my large bat ears both facing him; occasionally twitching to any of the slightest sounds that happened in the large cell room. Finally, Doc came to the lore and facts about vampires.

"-Vampires have long canine teeth." He glanced over to my fangs. "-They use them to suck the blood out of their victim's, preferably the neck," he added. I winced and shook my head. Doc chuckled. "Yes, yes, I know, Bat," he said and continued reading.

"Legends say that vampires are pale and look dead... in other places, the skin of a vampire is unusually red, especially after it has just drank the blood of a victim...well that second part is wrong but I guess the first one is right. You have paper white skin," He pointed out. I looked down at my white skin and nodded in agreement.

He turned the page and continued reading.

"Vampires have glaring eyes. Some say they are deep and dark as a black hole. Other legends say that vampires eyes only come in the colors of fire, or even icy blue. With their intense eyes, Vampires can see really well in the dark." I couldn't help but to smile. I was able to see in the dark...but they didn't specify what the eyes looked like. Were they like cat eyes like mine? or where they human eyes with intense colors?

Doc continued.

"Many of the Legends say that vampires have claw like nails and stringy hair. They also have dirty fingernails, sometimes all caked with dried blood. There had also been countless reports that vampires have revolting bad breath and smell like the dead-" Dr. C. was suddenly interrupted by laughter.

"That fact is the only one correct about Bat so far!" Link said as he came up to where we were. I frowned at him. "We aren't reading about vampires anymore, we are reading about annoying overgrown sea monkeys," I threw back at him. Link stopped laughing and gave me a look before grabbing the book from Doc and flipping through the pages.

"Why are you two book nerds wanting to read about vampires anyway? Bat isn't a vampire," he pointed out. Doc reached up and tried grabbing the book from Link, but the tall fish man kept it out of his reach.

"It's called research, Link, something you wouldn't understand," Doc muttered the last part under his breath. "Bat might be part vampire or something. She might have other powers we could use to escape from this place," Doc said, finally taking back the old book. Link shook his head. "Right. Maybe you should look up a book on "Missing Links" and see if I have any "super monster powers" like breathing fire, or making little half bat teens disappear," he added, giving me a look.

I crossed my arms. "As long as it's out of here, I wouldn't mind disappearing," I added with a smirk. Link ignored me. Doc sighed. "Its like watching fire fight fire," he muttered. He stopped reading out loud and started reading on his own. I turned in my chair and decided to draw. Link decided to stay, for reasons I didn't care about. He had his arms crossed as he would sometimes lean over and glance at what Doc was reading about.

After a while, Doc closed the book and thought for a moment. "You know what, maybe Link has a point," he said. I turned to him. "You are actually siding with him?" I asked, glancing over to the fish ape, who gave me a mock grin. Doc ignored me and pulled out a book from the bottom of the stack, causing the stack of books to topple over and across the table.

It was a book on bats. He began to flip through it. "Maybe there is something on bats..." he muttered. I decided to leave him to his thoughts and draw. Soon, I heard Susan's loud footsteps thundering slowly towards us. Following behind her was B.O.B. Link straightened up and grinned up at Susan, trying to look cool. "Hey there, Susan. How's it going?" he asked smoothly. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Susan gave him a half wave.

"Hey, Link. I'm doing ok. Just came by to see how you guys are doing," Susan said. Doc. didn't say anything. Link leaned against the table and crossed his arms. "Doing good...now that you are here," he added. I couldn't tell if Susan didn't hear him, or was doing a great job in keeping a straight face. Either way she did not show any interest in what Link just said. B.O.B. responded, thinking Link was talking to him, which I thought was the funniest thing, especially seeing the look on Link's face.

I looked up at Susan and responded when she tried waving her hand at Doc, who was deep in the pages of the bat book.

"He's still trying to figure out if I have any other powers," I said. Susan nodded. "He did the same to me when I first came here...I think that was about a year or two ago...after the meteorite," she said. I blinked. "Oh...you were never... like this?" I asked her. Susan smiled and shook her head.

"No, I used to be your height...maybe a little taller" she added. B.O.B. came up and bobbed his head. "Yeah, I used to be a really tall lady," he said. Link facepalmed in annoyance. "No. B.O.B., you were an experiment," he corrected him. B.O.B. blinked his one giant eye in surprise. "I was? oh yeah!" he laughed when he realized he said the wrong thing.

My eyes blinked from behind my sunglasses. That's when I realized, I didn't know anything about my new acquaintances. I've been so wrapped up in trying to find ways to escape, I never actually talked to these monsters. Everyone went quiet for a moment before I decided to ask them a couple questions. I already knew that Susan was from Modesto California and that she had a fiance by the name of Derek, but I didn't know how she became a monster. She told me that on her wedding day she got hit by a meteorite, and the glowing substance inside caused her to grow into a fifty foot woman.

I asked Doc. Doc looked up from my book. "Hm? I beg your pardon?" he asked. If he had glasses I could just see him adjusting them on the bridge of his used to be nose. I asked him how he became a monster. He told me in length and in long words how he became a monster. I felt that whenever we got out of here, Doc was going to write his own six hundred page book on how he became a cockroach. Basically in a nutshell, he created some sort of machine, which went wrong and caused him to have a cockroach head. After that, he went back to reading the book.

B.O.B. told me that his mom was a tomato. Link filled me in on the details about a snack factory using a genetically-altered tomato and injecting a chemically-altered ranch dressing into it, causing major side effects and creating B.O.B., or "Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate."

Insecto roared from behind us. Link translated for him. Insecto was once a little larvae, who was immediately affected by nuclear radiation. Insecto roared again. "He says he is getting a craving for Tokyo buildings again," he told us. I smiled a small smile up to Insecto, who seemed to be smiling back down at us.

I finally turned to Link. "What about you, Link? Were you always what you were? or were you a human once?" Link's fins stood up, it reminded me of a cat making its fur stand up on end. "I was born like this," he told me. I nodded. "Ok, just making sure...where did you come from? Did you come from the deep dark depths of the ocean?" Link shook his head.

"No, I was born in a lagoon," he told me. My face brightened. "Just like the Creature from the Black Lagoon?" I asked. Link nodded. "Yeah," he said, surprised by my sudden excitement. I leaned in closer, indicating I wanted to hear more. Link hesitated. "Erm...there's nothing really much in my own story," he said truthfully. I thought he was playing with me so I decided to egg him on. "Oh come on. I want to know. Are you a...child's overfed sea monkey?" I asked him jokingly.

Susan and B.O.B. laughed. Even Doc laughed from behind his book. Link flicked his tail in annoyance and crossed his arms over his wide chest. "No! I am not. I am The Missing Link, as what the government calls me. I lived thousands of years ago, before any of you guys were born...in a lagoon with my friends and family..." he started.

I could tell he wasn't one for public speaking, just like me, but after a while, he gained confidence in what he was saying and told his story; describing his home and the exotic plants and sea animals he swam with. I could tell he liked talking about himself since he smiled whenever he mentioned himself; either fighting some sort of sea tiger-octopus thing or showing off to some females of his own species.

"-When I woke up, I found myself trapped in ice. I got out of it, and tried finding my way back to my lagoon. It took me a couple weeks. I made my way along the beaches, scaring tourists and all that..." He grinned as he thought of those good times.

Soon the story took a turn when his voice started to fade away.

"When I made my way back to my home...I...I realized...everything was gone...I had lost my friends...my family...my lagoon...everything..." he said. I stared up at Link in surprise. B.O.B. and Susan looked concerned and sad for Link as well. Doc lowered his book for a moment.

"What happened to them?" asked B.O.B.

Link sighed, his broad shoulders going down. "They died..." he finally said.

I instantly felt horrible for making fun of him. I hesitated, before gently reaching up to his arm and patting it. His green-blue scales on his arm were smooth, and hard. He looked down at me and blinked. I stared back, feeling a small blush beginning to burn on my face.

"I'm sorry, Link," I said. Link moved his arm away from me and sighed. He cleared his throat. "I'm fine...I don't mind being the only one of my kind..." he said while he stretched his arms, trying to look macho.

"That's it!" Doc said as he jumped up, causing his chair to topple over. My ears went back. "What's it?" I asked. Doc pointed to the book. "Something you have!" the mad doctor said excitedly as he lifted the book and pointed to a picture of a bat taking flight.

Link stared at Doctor Cockroach for a minute before smiling. "Yes, Doc, that's a bat," he said as if he were talking to a preschooler. Doc gave him a glare before continuing, in a lower tone. "We might be able to have the upper hand with Bat here, being able to fly," he explained. "And with her super scream ability, maybe we will have a better chance," he added. Link exchanged glances with me before turning back.

"Yeah, only that, everyone here now knows Bat's power, and even if she learned to build up her wings, she could just sit on Susan's shoulder and do the same thing," Link said. Doc sighed, rubbing his temples with his free hand. "Oh honestly, Link. Do you ever hear yourself talk? Bat needs to learn how to fly! She would be able to scout ahead silently, have the higher ground, surprise attack guards. They wouldn't see it coming, and I'm sure like everyone else, Bat here wishes that she can use her wings to fly. I mean, she has wings, why not use them?" he added. Susan liked the idea, B.O.B. did as well. Insecto screeched in agreement.

Link sighed loudly. "I'll tell you why; because we are never getting out of this place!" he shouted. Everyone went silent as all eyes focused on the fish man. "Don't you get it? There is no way we will be able to escape this place. Even if we do teach Bat to fly, the security is now ten times harder than ever to get past."

No one spoke against Link's words. Link sighed loudly and continued. "I hate being the one who brings everyone down, but just face it, everyone...we are never getting out...ever."

Right when he finished his little speech, One of the walls opened up from the other side of the room. Monger was seen in a military jeep. He had a big smile across his face. "Good news, monsters! You are all free! You are getting out!" he shouted happily. I felt my heart skip a beat at the general's words. Link's fins flicked up and his eyes widened in surprise.

"...Until today," he said, looking back at us.

Susan jumped up into the air excitedly, causing us all to scramble. "I can't believe it! We are getting out!" she screamed happily. Doc tried to keep it cool, but I could see the excitement rising up in his body. Insecto shrieked happily from where he was. Link shouted excitedly and did a back flip, before throwing his back out. B.O.B. was the only one who was clueless about the whole thing.

We were finally getting out!

...


	12. Chapter 11: Distant Land

Chapter 11: Distant Land

...

Monger drove in his jeep next to us as he escorted us through the brightly lit facility that held us as prisoners. There were a bunch of people walking around wearing strange uniforms and carrying clipboards around. Once or twice I would see a scientist in a starch white lab coat run by. I watched them. Some of the scientists had stopped to stare at us as we walked by. My ears went back and quickly turned away. Just as I did, I felt someone step on one of my wings.

"Ow!" I cried out, causing my wings to flinch and wrap around my legs. They trembled as the pain coursed through them. I turned around and saw that Dr. Cockroach had stepped on it; his foot raised halfway up in the air. His eyes were bigger than they usually were.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Bat. I didn't mean to," he quickly said as he stopped and gently lifted the wing he stepped on. He examined it for a moment before putting it back down. "Nothing looks torn or pulled...Can you try folding them against your back?" he asked. I demonstrated my dilemma. The strength in my wings were weak, which was why I just allowed them to drag on the ground. Now pretty much everything hurt. I was still recovering from falling out of a plane, and now I am going to have to endure throbbing pain in my wings.

"I'm sorry, Bat. I'll be more careful next time," he said. Susan also mentioned that she would watch where she stepped as well. I thanked them. The cockroach head man nodded his head and carefully watched where he stepped as he went around me to the front with Link and Monger.

"So, tell me again how you convinced the government to let us have our freedom?" Doc asked Monger. Apparently Monger was explaining that he was able to convince the government and the President to set us free...but, our freedom came with a favor.

"I told them that you guys would track down and capture an alien," Monger simply said. All five of us stopped dead in our tracks. "An alien?" asked Susan. I noticed Link's tail flinch and flick once. "You mean like...little green men with antennae and flying saucers?" the fish man asked. Monger smirked and nodded.

"Of course! What else did you think I was talking about? Do you monsters not believe in aliens? Have any of you ever seen an alien?" he asked. None of us answered. "I did," said B.O.B. Link smirked. "Did it have a big head, wear a white lab coat and say a lot of long words in a British accent?" he teased. Dr. Cockroach just rolled his huge eyes and continued walking. I couldn't help but to chuckle a little at Link's joke.

Monger continued with his speech. "There is an alien at an amusement park in California. Thankfully all the guests have evacuated. A day or so ago it landed a mile or so away in the forest along the outer outskirts of the park. The president called in all the troops and military tanks to take it down, but it seems to be near indestructible. No one was able to take it down. They had instead just chased it to the park, which is where its called it its new home for the time being. Ever since I found out about Bat's scream powers, I thought that it would be a fantastic opportunity to offer you monsters to take it down, and asking for your freedom," he added.

I glared at the back of Monger's head. "I am not Dirty Harry for you or the government," I muttered. Thankfully Monger didn't hear me. Doc did and turned his head to me to give me a sad look. I turned away. I know, this was a really good chance for all of us to finally get out from our prisons, and I'm sure the rest of the monsters would do anything for their freedom. I dunno if my freedom was worth losing my life if the alien thing was hostile towards us. I felt like I was pointless and was doing the government's dirty work that they couldn't do, or was just too lazy. Just then, Susan spoke up.

"But, neither of us have Bat's power, and we aren't fit for fighting," she said nervously. Link turned his head up to the tall woman and smiled. "Don't worry, babe, I can take care of the fighting. I've been itching for some action," He added while stretching his arms over his head. I rolled my eyes. As much as I found Link annoying, I deep down didn't want him to show off for Susan and get himself hurt.

Monger brought the conversation back up again on how we were finally free. Everyone seemed excited to finally gain their freedom back. Susan started talking about how she couldn't wait to see her fiance again. Link talked about going back the the beaches and picking up some girls. B.O.B. mentioned how he too couldn't wait to go back to his lab. Doc corrected him and said that was his thing. B.O.B. thought for a moment and tried again. "Ok, then I can't wait to go back to Modesto and get back with my fiance Derek," he said.

"Uh, no, that's Susan, B.O.B.," said Link. The three male monsters argued a little till it ended with B.O.B. saying that he should at least see Derek again.

The conversation ended as we approached the huge jet and piled into the back where the storage and cargo went. I got a little nervous as I carefully sat down near a window. After the last time I was in a plane, and nearly losing my life, I wasn't really excited of being in one again. I could tell that I wasn't the only one, Susan sat hugging her legs. Doc sat across from me, trying to look relaxed, but I could see his hand gripping something attached to the wall near him; his knuckles as white as paper. Link and B.O.B. were the only ones with no looks of concern on their faces. B.O.B. I'm sure was clueless as always, but Link, I was certain he was trying to mask his fear.

"Where's Insecto?" asked Link, turning to Monger as he parked his car between us. Monger jumped out and told him that Insecto was coming with us. Link seemed to relax a little and sat down next to me. With that, Monger went up to the top and into the pilot's cockpit. I immediately felt nauseous once the plane started to get lifted up. I quickly looked out the window.

I watched outside the window as the platform under the jet went up like an elevator. Outside I heard a familiar loud distorted roar. Link smiled as his shoulders relaxed. It was Insecto. He wasn't far, and was coming along with us. I couldn't see him, but with my super hearing I could tell where he was.

We reached the surface and light began streaming through the small windows of the cargo hold. I continued looking out. I quickly turned away when my sensitive eyes caught something reflecting from the ground. My eyes felt like they were going to burn out of their sockets. I heard Link's voice as I turned away and doubled over.

"Bat! You ok?" he asked. I winced in pain before slowly nodding my head. "Yeah...I'm fine..." I said. While my eyes were closed, I could feel people moving their feet and shifting. I sensed Link's hands hovering over me, as if he wanted to help, but was too afraid to touch me. When I opened my eyes, the feeling was gone. Everyone relaxed and Link went back to sitting down. A couple of dark spots danced in front of my eyes, slowly fading away.

"Something metallic just shined in my eyes down below..." I added. The pain from the shiny object outside caused my eyes to tear up, and my vision became blurry. Thankfully I was wearing my sunglasses so no one could see.

"Maybe you should keep your eyes away from the window from now on," suggested Monger. I hesitated to respond to him. I kept quiet, glancing out the window whenever I felt light-headed. I truthfully never felt well on any source of transportation. When we were escaping I didn't feel nauseous as much, I guess because I was so focused on escaping.

Outside, I could only see the blue sky and a bunch of fluffy white clouds. There were so many, it looked like its own world. A city made of clouds. It was beautiful. Time passed by slowly. The first part of the ride was quiet. I didn't really feeling like talking, I wasn't sure if everyone felt the same. Soon, Monger broke the silence by asking if we wanted anything to eat or drink. I silently shook my head. Susan shook her head as well.

"I'm not hungry," said Susan politely.

"You wouldn't happen to have any rotting wood, or scraps of spoiled meat by any chance?" asked Dr. Cockroach. Monger chuckled little and shook his head. "Sorry, Doc. Would you prefer iced tea?" he offered. Dr. Cockroach sighed. "I suppose I must...unless you could add a little bit of trash from the waste basket?" he tried again. Monger got up and walked over to a door to the far side of the jet's cargo, leading up to the cockpit. "I'll see what I can do," he said before closing the door behind him.

Once he was gone, B.O.B. turned to Dr. C.

"So, now what? is this our chance to escape?" he asked. I blinked in surprise. I never actually thought of that. I was surprised B.O.B. brought it up, unless he was in the sudden mindset that we still needed to continue to escape and completely blanked out on the parts where Monger said that we were free to go...after we took down an alien from outer space.

It still surprised me to even say that. An actual alien? It couldn't be true. I mean, I loved reading about flying saucers and sci fi fantasy worlds in books, but this wasn't some fictional alien from a book. This was real...that we knew. Monger could be tricking us. Pulling the wool over our eyes and making us believe in his bullshit. I started to wonder if he was taking us out in the middle of nowhere to shoot us.

I pulled my legs up to my chest and hugged them nervously. No. I couldn't think like that. That wasn't going to happen. As much as I hated Monger for imprisoning us, he still saw potential in us. He talked to us like we were regular people. All the scientists and people back at the place we were held in looked at us. Stared at us. Like we were a bunch of...freaks...

Monsters...

"-...right, Bat?" asked Doc. My ears perked up on my head as I turned to the cockroach headed scientist. "Huh?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts. Doc's antennae twitched. "I was just telling B.O.B. that there was no need of escape anymore. We have nothing to worry about," he told me. I was quiet for a minute. I turned my focus to B.O.B. The blue gelatinous mass looked back at me with a smile on his face. His giant eye slowly moving in his Jell-O like body. I slowly nodded my head. "Erm...yeah. Of course...nothing to worry about," I finally said.

"Except for fighting little green men from outer space," said Susan. Link smirked up at her. "Don't worry, Susan. I'll take care of the aliens. Ol' Link has got this under control," he said, flashing her a smile. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Susan did the same. Link didn't really seem to notice. Doc looked away from the both of them. B.O.B...stared at the ground.

Just then, the door opened and Monger came back with Doc's iced tea, complete with bits of floating pieces of shiny chocolate bar wrappers. Doc's huge eyes lit up as he took the drink and drank it heavily. "Oh my, this is splendid!" he said happily as he finished drinking it.

Monger smiled and nodded.

...

In several hours, we were in California. First it was just miles and miles of mountains, until eventually it all changed to tiny suburban neighborhoods, trees, buildings, and cars. The jet flew over multiple freeways before finally getting to our destination. The jet gently landed. We were all exhausted from the flight. I felt worn out and just wanted to sleep. The holding door for the cargo opened up and we all shuffled out. I winced from the light. Everything felt so bright. Blinding.

"Sure feels bright out here. Feels so much warmer out here too..." Link pointed out. I looked out at the freeway of cars passing us by from where I stood. Birds flew across the bright blue skies. Pine trees rustled near me. I stood on an uneven hill of grass. The noises of the cars and the smells of pine, exhaust, dirt, flowers overwhelmed me all at once. I was free. I felt tears come to my eyes and run down my face. I was so happy to be back in the real world.

"Bat! Come over here!" called Link. I turned and noticed that everyone was standing in front of the entrance to the amusement park. I walked up and stood next to them. The park was surrounded by many pine trees. There were six roller coasters, an ice-cream shop, a popcorn stand. A fountain sat in the middle of the whole park. The boundaries of the park were immediate trees. A forest. A very out of the place park that didn't seem to belong there.

I had been to this park before, when I was really young. With my family. The wooden sign that hung over us used to say the name of the park, but years of harsh weather stripped it away. It used to be called Distant Land. Play on words, a place for families to come and basically escape from all their worries and travel to distant lands. There were different themes in the park. Medieval, Western, Mystery and Sci-Fi. My favorite place was the Western area.

From where we stood, we didn't see anything out of the ordinary of the park...except the fact that there were no people in it. It was absolutely deserted. Bits of wrappers and half eaten hot-dogs and cotton candy were seen scattered about along the paths that snaked out in opposite directions, leading to some sort of entertainment that was applied in the place.

"I don't see anything," replied Susan. "Nothing seems out of the ordinary."

"Except for a seventy foot tall alien beast," said Link with wide eyes. We all turned to him. He silently pointed up at what he was pointing at, near the pine trees. At first I thought he was going crazy...that was until it moved. It was in camouflage. It shifted, then finally flickered out of camouflage; and we realized in horror that it was bigger than we expected.

The alien was the size of one of the roller coasters in the park. It was seventy feet tall, and had six legs. Two tentacles lashed about from its back. It looked like a cross between a horse and a rhino. Across its' slick shimmering body were strange textures and holes that when it breathed, we were able to see a light glow from within. It turned to us and made a startled noise when it saw us. It had four glowing blue eyes. no pupils or eyelids, making it even more alien.

"Oh! It saw us! Let's go up to it," said B.O.B. he moved up a couple feet and waved his arms wildly. "Hey! Hi! What's up? How are you doing? Welcome to Earth! Don't move anywhere while we destroy you," B.O.B. said to it. The alien animal huffed before opening its mouth and roaring a strange, unearthly roar of threat.

Susan started to panic and hyperventilating. "It's going to kill us! I can't kill it! It's bigger than me! It's going to eat me for sure!" she said rapidly between fast breaths. Doc tried calming her down but it as no use, he was scared as well.

Just as we thought that things couldn't get any worse...

Suddenly the winds picked up, well I thought at first it was the winds...I dearly wished they were. When I turned around, I saw that Monger had ran back into the jet and it was just starting to take off.

"No!" cried Doc as he scuttled after it, but the jet was already up in the air. B.O.B. waved to the craft as it took off. "Bye! Remember to write!" he called over the loud sounds. I tried flapping my wings, but they quickly grew tired and fell like two blankets around my legs. Susan ran after the craft, trying to grab it before it got out of her reach. Link quickly climbed up onto Susan till he got to the top of her head. He leaped off and reached for the jet's wheels as they started to tuck into the underbelly of the craft.

"No!" he cried as he just grabbed air and started to fall back down. Susan thankfully caught him in time. The rest of us simply watched as the jet disappeared into the clouds. Susan set Link down near me.

Before any of us could say anything, the huge alien beast roared again and moved its right front paw and struck the earth, as if it were going to charge us. We all stood frozen, unsure of what to do. I could hear everyone's heart beating...except for B.O.B.'s since he didn't have a heart.

Then the beast charged straight for us.

...


	13. Chapter 12: Fight

Chapter 12: Fight

...

"Bat! scream at it!" shouted Dr. Cockroach at me, but my instincts were quicker. I ran out of the way of the charging beast, as well as everyone else. The whole ground shook from the alien beast's footsteps. It took down the sign at the front entrance, destroying it completely.

"Bat! Scream at it!" shouted Dr. Cockroach again from across the path. Link and I stood on one side of the path near a cotton candy stand, while Susan and Doc stood on the other side near a balloon stand. B.O.B., I had no idea where B.O.B. went. Most likely found a snack bar somewhere. Susan stayed down on her hands and knees, trying to be as small as possible. She breathed heavily. I could hear everyone's hearts pounding furiously from where I was; as if I had a stethoscope to each of their chests. It was creepy.

"Don't worry everyone! I've got this!" said Link as he came back to where we once stood. The path was con-caved and covered in the beasts tracks, like craters in the moon. We turned our heads and looked past the trees at the front entrance. The beast slowed to a stop once it realized that we weren't there anymore. The remains of Distant Land's sign was scattered around the towering aliens legs.

"Hey! Over here! You missed me!" Link shouted. Doc hissed at Link to get back into hiding and to be quiet, but the over grown sea monkey ignored him. Past the entrance, the beast exhaled out of its' nose angrily. Its two tentacles lashed around its body angrily, then the whole alien flickered in and out of camouflage. It roared. Link roared back, mocking it. The beast huffed and pounded the ground with its front foot. Link did the same, then charged. The beast roared and charged as well.

"Link!" we all screamed. Link laughed like a crazy mad man as he ran on all fours towards the alien beast. Once the alien beast got within range, Link leaped onto its head and held on. The beast bucked and thrashed wildly like a bucking bronco. It turned invisible for a moment, making Link look like he was flying by himself out of control. Link was having the time of his life. The alien lashed its tentacles. Link dodged the first few, but then one of the tentacles as able to hit him, flinging him off. Link corrected himself in mid air and did a back flip before landing on his feet.

"You want some of this? Come and get me!" he taunted it. The beast shook its head and gathered its bearings before pawing the ground again. Link cracked his knuckles and flexed his arms, grinning. He was having way too much fun.

Meanwhile, back inside the amusement park, Doc was trying to figure out how to stop the alien beast. He had already written out a whole equation in the dirt with a stick. He spoke out loud. I wasnt sure if he was talking to me or Susan...or just himself.

"It seems to have some sort of core energy inside itself. If we figure out how to extinguish its "flame" so to speak, we can stop it..." he went on. B.O.B. appeared with a whole cart of corndogs inside his blue gooey mass. It dissolved inside him until I couldn't see it floating in the blue goo anymore.

"Aw this place is amazing! The food is great! Can we live here?" the blue blob asked as he picked up a half eaten hotdog off the ground and stuffed it into his mouth. As he did, he saw Link and the beast fighing.

"Oh wow! Link is fighting the alien pony!" he said as he went right through Doc's equations in the dirt, smearing the ground clean. "B.O.B.! Don't-!" Doc shouted, but it was too late. The jumbled scientific nonsense only he could understand was wiped clean. The bug headed scientist sighed and dropped his stick to the ground.

"Awesome! Hey Link! You are doing great!" he shouted giving the amphibian man a thumbs up. Link turned his head when he heard his name. That gave the alien beast some time. The beast lashed its tentacles at Link, smacking him across the path. Link rolled head over fish tail till he stopped. He groaned in pain. Right when he started getting up, he heard a growl behind him. His fins flicked up and his eyes were wide. The beast was looming right over him. Teeth bared, the beast opened its mouth and got ready to eat him. We were all too stunned to speak or do anything, but watch. I couldn't move. Fear gripped me. I felt rooted to the ground.

Right when we thought we were going to witness the alien beast eating our fish friend, we heard a sound. A familiar sound. Link and the beast stopped and turned towards the sound.

Insecto appeared right behind the alien insect. In comparison, the alien was very small to Insecto's size. "Insecto!" cried Link happily. The beast stared up at the huge insect thing. Its eyes were wide in surprise. Insecto glared down at the beast, then roared his demented roar. The beast bared its ugly sharp teeth and roared back, turning away from Link and towards its new opponent. Link got up and away from the two huge creatures. He threw his hands up in excitement.

"Go Insecto! Take that alien down!" he cried happily. In one step, Insecto began to ram half of his body against the beast. The beast roared and planted its feet firmly down and fought against Insecto. Watching the two fight reminded me of an old dinosaur movie I remember watching when I was little.

The fight lasted for a couple minutes.

The beast got the upper hand and was able to knock Insecto down. The alien was fast, while Insecto, being the size that he was, was too slow and couldn't keep up. Insecto fell on his back, close to the freeways. Cars stopped, some crashed into each other. I could hear all the drivers screaming in terror and pointing at the huge dinosaur sized creatures on the other side of the freeway. The beast ignored the people and got ready to finish off Insecto.

Insecto cried out in fear as he tried getting back up. His multiple arms and stubby legs moved. Insecto reminded me of a rolley-polley, helpless and open for the prey to attack. The alien rhino-pony creature reared up on its hind legs and got ready to pierce its spindly front legs into Insecto's soft underbelly-

"Hey! Get away from my friend!" shouted Link, waving his arms and jumping up and down. The alien beast turned its attention to Link. It slowly lowered its forearms down and bared its teeth. Link picked up a couple rocks and began throwing them at the beast. The beast got hit by the rocks and roared in anger. It was pissed. Link quickly turned around and sprinted away, luring it back to the amusement park.

Suddenly something weird started to happen. Instead of the beast chasing Link, It stayed put. The hollow places that gave light on its back began to brighten. The beast lowered its head as the light from within it continued to glow brighter and brighter. We all stared in shock and confusion. Suddenly the beast opened its mouth and a yellow ball of light and energy came out. The ball of energy flew across the path towards Link.

"Link! Look out!" I screamed. Link turned his head, just as the ball of light lost its momentum and the gravity started to take hold. It made contact with the ground, just behind him, and exploded. Link yelped as he was sent flying through the air and crashed into a pine tree. He sank to the ground, out. Susan, B.O.B. and Doc gapped in horror from the amusement parks entrance.

"No!" they screamed.

From where I stood, I could hear him still breathing. He was still alive. Nothing seemed to be damaged or broken. "Link! Get up!" cried Susan and Doc. B.O.B. was racing up to the beast and making himself into a wall. "Don't hurt my friend. If you want to get to him, you have to go through me!" he shouted. The beast didn't seem threatened as it got ready to send another blast towards B.O.B. and Link.

Link shifted a little and groaned softly in pain at the base of the tree he smacked into. The beast took a couple steps forward, its eyes looking straight through B.O.B. and right at Link

"Link!" I cried. Before I realized what was happening, I found myself running straight for Link. I heard Doc and Susan scream my name. Link came to once I stood in front of him, facing the beast. The beast didn't seem to notice as it got ready to use its blast on the fish man. Link said my monster name and told me to get out of the way.

"B.O.B.! Move!" I shouted. B.O.B. did as he was told. The beast's eyes met mine. I glared it down. The beast opened its mouth. I took a deep breath and screamed before it could attack us. The sonic blast hit the alien beast right in the face, causing all of its warmed up energy to stop. The beast went flying backwards. It crashed to the other side of the park, on the edge of the bordered chain link fence, into a roller coaster. The wooden limbs and metal structure of the roller coaster fell down and collapsed like a snakes skeletal body, con caving in on itself, around the beast. The whole place shook, and most of the trees around the area were flattened. I turned to Link who's eyes were big with surprise.

Before either of us could say anything, Doc, Susan and B.O.B. came up to me and patted me on the back. "That was great, Bat! You were amazing!" they said. Link huffed and got up. "Yeah, let's all thank the little bat brat. Old Link didn't do jack squat," I heard him mutter angrily. My ears went back a little as I winced from his words. I smiled a small smile and gave him a compliment. Link brushed my compliment aside. He went over to Insecto, who was just starting to figure out how to get back to his feet.

Suddenly, we heard a loud sound. We all turned and saw that the beast had gone invisible. I felt the blood drain from my body. Crap. My scream just seemed to make it mad. Now it was moving towards us and was invisible. Everyone was able to get out of the way in time, but I wasn't. I took a deep breath a little too late. The beast grabbed me by its tentacles and lifted me high into the air. I screamed, but in fear. I struggled in its grasp, but it was no use. The tentacle swayed wildly, making me dizzy and sick.

Susan yelled my name and got to her feet. I had no idea what she was doing until it happened. Susan uprooted a tree and held it like a baseball bat. When the beast turned to her, she swung the tree right into its face, causing it to be visible again. B.O.B. stretched around the beast's legs, causing it to stumble. While all this commotion was going on, Doc was able to go into the nearby hot-dog stand and create a condiments gun and started shooting ketchup and mustard into the alien's eyes every time it lowered its head. Link tried putting his two cents in, but was unable to get a punch in.

The beast flickered in and out of visibility. It shrieked in pain and anger. The glowing yellow energy from within itself started to glow again. It was going to send another energy blast. Before I could warn my friends, Insecto charged into the big alien, causing it to rear back its tentacle, and let go of me, launching me over the amusement park.

Free from the alien's grasp, I sailed over the park feet over head over and over. I tried flapping my wings to stop the momentum or slow me down, but they were useless. I flew over some pine trees. I crashed through the trees, every needle scraping and stabbing through my clothes and wings. Finally I broke through them into an opening. Down below was a huge rushing river. I braced myself. My whole body tensing up.

Suddenly, I felt something grab my arm, slowing my fall down, but only for a couple seconds. In that split second the thing had caught me, I was able to look up and sort of see it. It was the strange scientist. His lab coat flapped around him. His hair was dark brown and curly. I couldn't see his face that well. All I remember seeing were his eyes. Yellow and burning. Behind him, spread out from his back, were a pair of wings. Huge black wings. He was flying. My eyes widened in horror from the weird scientist. I screamed. My scream caused the scientist to get sent flying back, causing him to get go of me. I fell out of his grasp, and fell the rest of the way, into the water.

The river carried me down stream. I crashed into rocks and went under the water. I tried kicking and using my arms to swim, but my wings kept getting in my way. I gasped for air but only got mouthfuls of water. I was terrified. My arms and legs began to grow sore from crashing into the rocks, and trying to keep afloat. I went under once more. I felt my face hit hard against a rock. I cried out from the pain. Bubbles escaped my mouth. I felt myself slip in and out of consciousness.

Right when I thought this was the end of me, I suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist. Bubbles escaped my mouth as I screamed, afraid it was something attacking me. The scientist? I tried thrashing, but my arms were pinned down against my sides. Before I could do anything else, I was lifted up out of the water. I immediately gasped for air, coughing and breathing heavily. My wings wrapped around me like two wet blankets, soaked and bleeding. My ears were drooping and dripping repeatedly. My savior carefully carried me out of the rushing river and gently placed me down in a sunny, grassy area, well away from the water.

I went on my hands and knees and began coughing to the point of nearly vomiting. My ears slowly lifted up when I heard my savior stand over me. I turned my head slightly and saw a pair of familiar green scaly feet, and a swishing tail fin behind it. It was Link. He started to speak, he sounded annoyed at first, possibly because he had to go and save me. Once I turned my head up to him, his voice changed and his hard face softened.

"I...Are...are you ok?" Link asked. His voice full of concern.

Pain ran all through my body. My shirt was tattered from the sharp rocks and clung close to my body. I was soaked to the bone. Beads of water dripped from my hair. I wanted to give him a snide comment, but dismissed it. I was too much in pain to say or do anything.

I turned back to the grass and spat up river water. After I was done, I was shaking like a leaf. The cold breeze tore through me. The sun stung my sensitive eyes. I sat on the grass, adverting my eyes from Link.

"We need to take you back to Doc." Link said as he looked around to which way the others were. I looked up at him. He turned back, then gasped in shock. "You're bleeding," he pointed out. I reached up and touched my mouth. I pulled my hand back and found red stuff dripping from my hand. He was right. I was. I began to feel nauseous at the sight of it. My tongue instinctively began searching through my mouth to figure out the source of the bleeding. I found out that my right fang was missing. My tongue ran over the gap where my fang had been. It must have been when I smashed my face into that one rock. I spat out a mouthful of blood into the grass. I took a slow, shaky breath and exhaled. Great. Just great...

"You ok, Bat? You look pale," Link said. I thought he was trying to be funny since my skin was already unusually pale, but when I looked back up at him, I noticed that he was serious.

"Er...more pale then usual," he added, rubbing the back of his head, realizing what he said.

I didn't answer him. Instead, I tried getting up, but felt dizzy. I tried walking, but found out the hard way that I sprained my ankle, causing me to limp. My arms came out to grab something to keep myself from falling back down, but all I caught was air. Link quickly came up to me and wrapped his arms around me, keeping me from falling over.

"I got you," he reassured me. I stopped shaking as the side of my face gently pressed up against his chest. I quickly pulled away and looked up at him. Our eyes met. Link stared back down at me with a concerned look on his face. He was really worried about me. I never thought he'd actually care...

I felt myself blushing and quickly tried to look away. "I...Th-thank you...f-f-for helping me," I was able to muster while my teeth were chattering.

"Don't mention it..." Link said. He looked as though he was going to say something else, but decided not to. "Where are your sunglasses?" he asked me. I was quiet for a second before shaking my head. "Hm," Link said, understanding my silent answer. "Let's go back to the others...I'll carry you."

Before I could protest, Link lifted me up and onto his back. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his thick scaly neck.

"Hold on," he told me. I felt my face burn. Once he started sprinting on all fours, I pressed my warm face against the back of his neck, hoping he didn't feel the heat from it. I felt my heart beating fast inside my sore chest. I had no idea what was happening. I was starting to see Link in a different light.

I was starting to grow an attraction to The Missing Link...

...


	14. Chapter 13: Love Triangle

Chapter 13: Love Triangle

...

Link zig-zagged at a great speed through the trees, and jumped over bushes. I tried holding on, keeping myself from falling off and causing more pain to my already broken body, but I found that my hands were beginning to sweat.

"You ok back there?" I heard Link ask me. I felt my throat close up. I coughed in response.

"All right we are almost there, just hang tight," he said. I felt my face burning up again. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ I asked myself. I squeezed my eyes shut when I kept seeing the sun flicker through the trees. Link slowed to a stop when we both heard a loud roar and a couple crashes after. I heard Susan's shouts and B.O.B.'s laughter.

Link nearly lost his balance when the whole earth shook. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Link got back into a sprint and we continued our way back.

...

Once we got back, Link found the rest of the gang over near a lemonade stand and a carousel ride. Beside them were the remains of the alien beast. B.O.B., Susan and Doc saw us. They stopped smiling. "Bat!" Susan said in shock. Link slowed to a stop in front of Doc. He gently lifted me off of his back and carried me. "Bat fell into the river on the outskirts of the park. She needs some medical attention," Link reported. Doc came up to me and inspected my wounds.

"Oh my...I'm surprised you survived...does anything feel broken?" he asked me with concern in his voice. I opened my bleeding mouth to answer him. Doc blanched at the sight of the bloody gap and quickly pulled out a handkerchief from his lab coat pocket. "Oh my..." he responded. I took the handkerchief and placed it over the area where it was bleeding.

"Fanks," I was able to say with the handkerchief in my mouth. Doc nodded, then looked at Link. "Put her down over here, at one of the benches," he instructed. Link obeyed and carried me over to the bench closest to him. He gently set me down. I sat down on the bench, holding the handkerchief up to my mouth. Susan came up to me and crouched down. Her face was full of worry.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok, Bat? Did you break anything?" She asked at a rapid pace. I tried telling her to calm down and say that I was fine, but I couldn't seem to talk with a bleeding mouth, also the pain wasn't helping. B.O.B. came up to me with an ice-cream. At first I didn't accept it, then Doc insisted and told me that B.O.B. had the right idea, even though that wasn't what the blue blob was thinking.

"It will help with the pain, and the swelling," he told me. I silently accepted the ice-cream. It was strawberry. I wasn't a fan of strawberry ice-cream, but then decided to use it like an ice-pack, and just gently pressed it up against my face. I breathed through my teeth from the sudden cold, but then gradually relaxed and sighed from the nice cold feeling of the cold ice-cream reducing the pain feeling in my face. B.O.B. thought my brain got jumbled and forgot how to eat.

"That's not where you put icecream, Bat...it goes in your mouth, like this," he told me as he grabbed his own ice-cream and showed me the proper way of how to eat. I couldn't help but to give a weak smile to the brainless blue blob. I enjoyed the gelatinous monster. His innocence and child like manner was very sweet.

After B.O.B.'s lesson in eating, Link asked Doc how they were able to take down the alien while he was gone. I could tell from his voice that he was a bit upset that he missed out on taking out the alien. Insecto roared his happy demented roar from above. Link's eyes widened in surprise. "Susan took it down?" he asked in shock. Susan blushed and smiled a big smile. "Well I wouldn't say that...Insecto, Doc and B.O.B. were a big help too," she said.

Link and I listened as the four monsters explained in the amount of time that we were gone, they were able to take down the alien. Apparently, during the fight, Susan found that being super big, she was also super strong. She was able to knock the alien down, while Insecto wrapped it up in a silk that shot from his nose. I wrinkled my nose in slight disgust from that when Link translated that part of the story from Insecto.

They were able to wrap it up in a cocoon. The alien beast tried getting out using its energy blast, but in doing so, it backfired on itself, causing the alien to blast itself with its own energy and thus killing it. They didn't mean to kill it, they just wanted to contain it, but apparently that didn't go into order. Either way, they were happy that they were able to finally take it down. I silently nodded my head. Link had his arms crossed over his chest. My ears went down slightly. He noticed me looking at him and I quickly turned away, hoping he didn't see my moon white face turning apple red.

"Well..." Link finally said. "I guess that's that..."

I looked back up at him. Doc and Susan exchanged glances.

"But what about Monger? Isn't he going to...you know. Pick us up?" Doc asked his antennae twitching nervously. We all looked up towards the sky, past the emerald green pine needles and the tops of the paintbrush tipped trees. The clouds were gone and it was a clear bright blue sky. "...He said that once we took down the alien that we were free." Doc added. Susan looked back down to us and shook her head. "Doesn't seem like he is going to," she said.

"But what about Derek? I need to get back to him!" B.O.B. said. Doc sighed and rubbed his temple with his hand. "No B.O.B. Derek is Susan's fiance, not yours," he explained. B.O.B. nodded. "Ok, then what about my experiments? I need to get back to them in my lab," he said again. The cockroach headed scientist just sighed and rolled his huge eyes. A long silence filled the gap.

Link sighed again, breaking the silence. "Well, I guess then this is...goodbye," Link said. We all turned to face him. I felt my heart skip a beat. Goodbye? This couldn't be the end. We all had something in common. We all experienced the same things. We had all been together. I know I hadn't known them for very long but it felt that I did. We all had been in prison. We all had tried escaping and nearly lost our lives. We all had defeated an alien and lived to tell the tale. We couldn't just say goodbye and walk away from it. This was a big part of our lives. These monsters...they were my friends. And Link...I mean...um...we just started getting along. I didn't want to say goodbye...

I looked over to everyone else. They didn't seem to want to say goodbye either. That was when I decided to speak up, talking around the handkerchief. "Erm...m-maybe we fould wait 'ere a bit longer? I'm fure Monger will come back for uf. Fey haf to cofer up the alien, right?" I offered. The monsters all exchanged glances, then gradually nodded their heads.

"You are right, Bat. The government has to cover this up," he replied. I nodded. Doc stared at my bleeding handkerchief for a moment before pointing at me.

"...But first, you need medical attention, and a new set of clothes," Doc added. I nodded, shaking like a leaf in my soaked attire. I mentioned a small clothing shop in the park, and I told them how there was a emergency area here as well. Susan blinked. "Bat, you've been here before?" she asked me. I nodded. "A long fime ago. Thif park if clof to where I lif," I said with the handkerchief still in my mouth. Doc helped me up from the bench. "Alright, first we help you, then I guess we can explore the park a bit," Doc said.

I beamed as best as I could. My eyes stung from the sunlight, and my face hurt a lot.

With Doc's help, I was able to lead the monsters through the park. A lot had changed since I had last seen the inside of the park...besides the alien carcass in the front and the lack of guests. I gave my squished strawberry ice-cream I used as an ice-pack to B.O.B. He ate it in a heartbeat. I pointed over to where the tourist shop was. The shop was a small round open crescent moon shape with tons of clothes on racks on one side, and on the other side shelves of Distant Land toys.

Link, and B.O.B. roamed around inside while I picked out a Distant Land outfit. Once I found some clothes, I went to go change in the ladies restroom, which was conveniently right next door. In the sink I washed the sticky ice-cream off of my face before changing. I went into the big stall and hung the clothes on the metal hook on the other side of the door.

I picked up the shirt I chose from the shop. The shirt had the Distant Land logo on the front. I had almost forgotten about my wings when I started putting the shirt on. I used my one sharp fang to puncture a hole in the fabric, and tore two big holes for my wings to fit through. I was going to have to ask Monger to lend me some money for the shirt. I wasn't going to be able to return it.

The shop didn't have any undergarments so I had to improvise. I got a pair of Distant Land shorts and used it as underwear. My other personal undergarment I had to wear was not in the shop. It was still wet. I hoped it dried fast. Then I picked up a pair of pajama bottoms with Distant Land's cartoon mascot, a pie eyed chinchilla wearing gloves and a pair of shorts.

The store thankfully had shoes and socks decorated with the Distant Land minor characters all over. I pulled on the socks and laced up the shoes. My fingerless gloves were soaked through. I pulled them off and stuffed them into the bag of my wet clothes. The store didn't have any fingerless gloves, so I had to deal with having my hands bare or a while. I felt very naked without my gloves.

Last but not least I got myself my own new pair of Distant Land Sunglasses, to finish off looking like a die hard Distant Land fan. Once I was done, I picked up my bag with my wet clothes and came out from the stall.

After that, we found the small building that was the small first aid center for when anyone got hurt. The doors were wide open so Doc and I just walked in. I sat in a chair while Doctor Cockroach looked around till he found the first aid kit. "I am not a medical doctor but I have had some training in the field," he told me as he fixed my wounds. He found some aspirin and I took two with some water from one of the drinking fountains. I thanked Doc after he was done fixing me up. I carefully got up from the chair with the help from Doc and walked out.

Once we joined with the others, I sat down at one of the benches and placed my bag of wet clothes at my feet.

"Alright, so where would you ladies and gents like to explore first?" Doc asked. "I guess we should let Bat lead around since I have never been here before," said Susan. Link stretched his arms as he looked through the pine trees. "Is there a water ride anywhere? Starting to feel a bit quenched if you know what I mean," Link said.

"I don't know what you mean," B.O.B. admitted. Link sighed and told him not to worry about it. I carefully got up from where I sat. I pointed over past a stage that had four of the park's main mascots as animatronics. "Mt. Splif Splaf," I said, still holding the bloody handkerchief to my mouth. Link smirked at me before moving his arms for me to lead.

"Lead the way, _Batula_ ," he teased. I gave him a look as my arm flopped down. I hated that name. I silently turned and began to lead the way. I tried walking without the aid of one of the monsters. I limped slowly along, and turned back when I heard the lack of footsteps. Link and B.O.B. walked past me.

I noticed Susan. She was sitting down on the ground, hugging her legs. I realized she couldn't go in the rides or anything. She seemed a little upset about it. First day out in the world and she found she was living in a world that was like a dollhouse in comparison to her. She wouldn't be able to do any normal human things again. Doc noticed her predicament too and walked up to her. They started talking. Susan smiled a small smile down at Doc. I heard something from behind me. I turned around and found Link staring at them. I felt myself blushing. I pocketed my bloody handkerchief, then cleared my throat.

"H-hey, Link...let's go on the ride," I offered. His eyes gradually shifted down to me. My face suddenly felt warm and my hands started to sweat. My bat ears flicked back, trying to shrink down. Link looked over my head to Susan and Doc one last time before shrugging and turning back to me.

"Um...sure I guess," Link said. I smiled a small nervous smile. I truthfully hated the water ride. I wasn't one who liked getting wet, but if it was the only way to...no. _No. I don't like Link._ What was I doing? I felt my heart beginning to hurt a little. Link stared down at me. "What?" he asked. I quickly turned away, feeling my face burn in embarrassment.

"Um, nothing...let's go," I said, hoping he didn't notice. I walked a couple steps, then turned back to make sure he was following. His head was turned back over to Susan and Doc. I felt my heart sink a little. I turned my head back and shook my head, denying everything. _No. No. I don't like Link. Even if I did, h-he likes Susan...but Susan has a fiancé...so why should I be worried about him liking her. Wait, no. No! I don't like that...that...overly fed sea monkey..._

My argument with myself was interrupted when I heard B.O.B.'s laughter. B.O.B. excitedly raced through the entrance to Splish Splash Mountain. The blue blob zipped around the empty Q-line that snaked through the fake mountain. Link followed after him, and I hobbled along after the two. I turned back to see if Susan or Doc were coming too, but they seemed happy just talking to each other. I turned back and entered inside the mountain.

Inside it was dark, give or take a couple lanterns and open holes. Link gradually forgot about Susan and Doc and ran through the empty Q-line as well. I hobbled along as fast as I could. I tried flapping my wings, but they felt heavy and were still damp from the river water. My tongue continuously ran over the gap in my mouth. I winced every time I tasted blood.

Once I got to an open pocket where a waterfall gushed down and into a small pool below. Link waited around on the other side, grinning mischievously. He placed his hand into the waterfall, then brought it out, his hand dripping wet. When I got close enough, he flicked the water at me. I cried out and placed my arms up.

"Link!" I cried out. Link just laughed and bolted the rest of the way through the line. I huffed, but found the corners of my mouth going up. I forced myself to frown. I tried not thinking about Link and just focused running my tongue over the gap in my mouth. The bleeding had gradually stopped, but I could still taste that horrible metallic taste of blood. I leaned over the wooden railing and spat into the churning waters below. The loud roaring sounds from the waterfall were painful to my sensitive bat ears so I pressed on.

The tunnel opened up into the huge open room decorated to look like a huge open cavern. Stalactites stretched downward while Stalagmites stretched upward from the grownd. Carts were linked up and waiting to load in passengers to take them through the crazy maze of tunnels. Link was at the controls, pressing random buttons to try and get the ride to work. B.O.B. was already sitting in one of the carts, laughing excitedly. Once Link got the ride alive and running he motioned for me to hurry.

"Come on, _Batula!_ " he said impatiently as he hopped into the Miner's Doom ride. I gave him a look. "Don't call me that… _Fishstick!_ " I threw back at him, but I couldn't help but to smile. I sat down in the cart behind Link.

Let's ride!" he said excitedly as the carts lurched forward. B.O.B. shouted a couple cowboy references from behind us. Once our linked carts began to turn a corner in the dark and go up the steep climb of the "mountain," I suddenly realized there was no one there to man the controls.

"Will we be able to get off?" I asked him nervously. Link smirked as he gave me a long side glance. "Does it matter?" he asked. He laughed at the shocked look on my face. "Don't worry, Batsy, I've got it," he said. Then our carts plummeted down the mountain. We rode in and out of Splish Splash Mountain with our hands up in the air, screaming and laughing. When we were in the cave section, there was an open area where there were animatronic bats flapping their wings.

"Hey look, Batula! Your cousins!" Link joked. I just laughed at his ridiculous joke. We rode that ride five times. Once we got close to the waiting area, Link jumped off and turned the ride off. B.O.B. arched himself like a snake out of the ride. "This is the best day ever!" he said with his blue fists up in the air. I was the only one still in the ride, worn out from laughing and keeping myself from screaming and taking out the ride with my sonic blast.

"Need help getting out?" Link offered. I hesitated. "Um...uh..." I blushed, hesitating on the offer. Didn't really help that I was also feeling very dizzy and nauseous. Link smirked. "It's not a trick question, I'm just offering," he said, his hand out for me to take. My heart raced inside my ribcage as my hand reached out for his. He held mine and pulled me out from the ride. I moved my hand away, and looked down at the ground.

"Thank you," I said softly as I removed a strand of hair from my face and tried instinctively tucking it behind my ear, but then remembered that I had big bat ears. The situation made it even more awkward, causing a huge wave of heat to go through me. I was very warm and embarrassed. Thankfully I was wearing big sunglasses so he couldn't read my face. When I looked up, Link gave me a look, his finned ears flicked back. "You ok?" he asked. Before I could even think up an excuse, B.O.B. came up to Link, laughing excitedly.

"Hey guys! Let's go on another ride!" he said. Link grinned, revealing his set of sharp teeth. "Yeah! Let's go!" he said. I stared at his teeth. When I first met him, his sharp teeth reminded me of a sharks and terrified me. Now that I was staring at them again, I found myself admiring them. His smile was making me feel light headed...or was I still feeling out of it from being on the ride for so long?

I snapped out of my reverie when Link and B.O.B. turned and raced away. B.O.B. stopped when he saw that I was still standing near the mine carts. "Come on, Bat!" he called to me, moving his blue gel arm in a perfect half circle, which reminded me of those old cartoons. What were they called again? Rubber cartoons? Because when they moved, their bodies acted like they were made of rubber?

I decided not to think about it as I hobbled as fast as I could after the two.

We rode a couple of the smaller rides, and some of my favorites. Some of the rides had some areas with animatronics awkwardly interacting with each other. On one of the rides, one of the animatronics held a basket of pastries. B.O.B. thought it was real and tried grabbing the food from the animatronic farm lady. Link had to get off the ride and push him back into one of the carts that was on a track. Once B.O.B. realized that the food was fake, he slid back into the moving carts in disappointment. Link hopped back into the cart a couple carts behind me and rode the rest of the way. At the end, there were holograms of gingerbread cookies. B.O.B.'s spirits lifted when he tried grabbing them, but all he got was air.

On another ride, Link tried jump-scaring me when we got to a dark part of the ride, where we couldn't see a thing, except me. I didn't jump at them. B.O.B. did, almost causing us to fall out of the ride. I tried getting him back. He just laughed and said he wasn't easily scared. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

When we got to another mountain ride, I didn't mention anything about it to Link or B.O.B. The ride was called The Strato. A ride where you go through a "volcano," with its own Lava Monster that "chased" you through the ride. When we got to the front of the line, I discreetly sat next to Link. The carts were big enough to fit three people in, in each row, since it was such a popular ride. Link didn't seem to notice as the ride started.

Link started to say something, but stopped when he heard a loud roar echo through the volcano. "What was that?" B.O.B. asked from behind us in his own cart. I smirked. The reason I didn't tell them about this ride was that I wanted to see if I could scare Link. When I was little, I was terrified of this ride, because of the Lava Monster. As we weaved in and out and around the volcano, we could hear the sounds of the Lava Monster chasing us through its habitat. We passed by fake lava made of plastic and lit up by red lights to make it seem like the lava was producing its own light.

We turned a sharp corner, the inside of the mountain was warm, to give it that illusion that you were in a volcano, but I'm sure if we were, we wouldn't be able to take the heat. Right next to me, I could feel Link's body tensing up when the roar of the lava monster came again.

When the Lava Monster animatronic suddenly appeared on Link's side of the ride.

Link did not expect it. The lava monster animatronic roared its terrified roar, reached out its dripping lava arms and tried to grab the sea monkey man. Link screamed in terror. He lurched away from the Lava Monster and grabbed me. I tensed up in shock from the sudden action and started to feel my face growing warm. Link relaxed when the Lava Monster was gone, but then tensed up when he realized that he had his arms wrapped around me.

Once he did, he quickly let go of me and shifted away. I thought I saw his face turn red with embarrassment. I pretended not to notice and tried calming my inner voice, who was screaming hysterically and hyperventilating. I wanted to stop my heart from beating so heavily in my chest. Once the ride ended, Link stopped the ride, but didn't offer to help me out. I helped myself out and limped behind B.O.B. and Link.

Afterwards, the three of us joined up with Susan and Doc back at the benches where we last separated. The two were laughing and smiling. Insecto was off gnawing away on one of the half destroyed buildings that had collapsed during the alien fight.

Link stopped dead in his tracks. I saw him staring at Susan and Doc. I stopped behind him. Hesitant, I came up and stood next to him. "Y-You ok, Link?" I asked him. Link was quiet for a moment, before he noticed that I was there. A realization seemed to flicker in his eyes. He turned back to Susan and Doc and muttered something to me.

"What are they saying, Bat?" he asked me suddenly. I hesitated. "...What?" I asked, totally thrown off guard. He repeated his question. I looked over to Susan and Doc. "Um...it's nothing important...why?" I asked. Link was quiet for a minute. His tail swished again and his finned ears flicked forward. "...Just curious," he answered. I turned to look over at the giant woman and the bug headed scientist.

They were talking about different kinds of butterflies and some childhood memories of certain theme parks. I didn't say anything to Link. Link finally gave up and started to walk away. I followed after him. "Um, want to go on any more rides?" I asked him. Link turned his head and looked down to me.

"Hm?" he asked.

I looked down at the ground and repeated myself.

I looked back up when I heard Link's scaly green tail swish once behind him. "I'm kind of worn out...was maybe thinking of seeing if there was anything to eat around here," he admitted. I fumbled with my pale bare fingers, wishing I was wearing my gloves, I would feel a little more confident talking to the eight foot tall fish man. "M-may I join you?" I asked him. Link looked down at me in puzzlement.

"Uh...sure?" he said. Then he added. "I was going to ask you where the food stands were, so you can show me," he said. My ears went back in embarrassment. The tips felt as though they were on fire. "R-right..." I said, feeling stupid. Of course I had to come with him and show him where the food was. He didn't know this place. I turned away and silently lead the way. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. What was wrong with me? I needed to snap out of this weird state I was in.

"Where are you two going?" asked B.O.B., noticing that we were heading away from the others. Link told him that we were heading off to find food. B.O.B. grinned from...well he doesn't have ears, so I guess one side of his mass to the other. "Awesome! Can I join you guys?" he asked. Before we could say anything, the blue blob turned to Susan and Doc.

"Hey, Doc, Susan! You guys want to join us? We are off to find food!" B.O.B. shouted. The giantess and the bug-headed scientist exchanged glances before getting to their feet and following after us. Link gave them a glance before walking alongside them, but in between them. I pretended not to notice and continued leading the way while limping.


	15. Chapter 14: Burgers With Suspicion

Chapter 14: Burgers With Suspicion on the Side

...

I took them to a nice restaurant in the park. It was a burger place named after one of the characters of the park who was into the fifties era. Inside the floors were checkered in black and white and the layout was like an old 50's place, with old cars and license plates and records nailed to the walls; the place even had its own ice cream bar around the corner. The walls were turquoise and shell pink; and to the far left was a juke box. Link ran over to the juke box and looked through the list of songs. He got excited for one and pressed the button. The juke box didn't require any money to play.

Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley played. He played some air guitar before doing some dance moves. I stood there watching him dance in front of the juke box for a while. I smiled a small smile. He wasn't a bad dancer. The fish man suddenly stopped dancing when he saw me watching. I quickly turned away. _Crap, he noticed me looking at him,_ I thought to myself. I briskly walked down the small aisle of tables over to the other side where B.O.B. was eating the menus on the tables; and Doc was digging through the trash near the entrance.

"Ooh! tasty!" I heard Doc say as I passed by. "Bat! you must try this," he said, holding up a balled up piece of aluminum. I smiled and politely shook my head. "No thanks, Doc. I'm...uh...craving a burger," I responded. Doc shrugged and hunched over the trash again. "Missing out," he pointed out and continued on. Susan sat outside the restaurant, her head halfway showing through the double door entrance.

"A burger sounds amazing," she said. Doc looked up from the trashcan and Link turned away from the juke box. B.O.B. came up to Susan and nodded the top part of his body. "Yeah, a burger does sound amazing. Would be nice to eat a burger. You would need a bunch of burgers made. I think it would be very nice if one of us made a bunch of burgers for you," B.O.B. said. Link and Doc exchanged glances then looked over to where the grill was behind the counter.

Link gave Doc a quick look before heading into the back. The bug headed scientist followed suit. I sat at the bar and tried watching them trough the rectangular open window slot where cooks would usually place the orders once they were done cooking. There were even some small pieces of rectangle paper with orders that were never cooked, because of the alien incident. Everyone seemed to have just booked it. Some sweaters and jackets still hung over a couple chairs. There was even a discarded doll face down on the ground.

Doc went to the back of the grill and tried preparing something, but ended up blowing up the microwave in the back. Black smoke funneled out from the small room. Link used the fire extinguisher to take out the he didn't blow up the stove. The two male monsters worked together...well tried working together, to cook the patties.

"How would you like your burger, Bat?" asked Doc through the window. I told him how I wanted it. I was truthfully a picky eater and wasn't a fan of onions or tomatoes or pickles.

After a few minutes of low arguing, they finally got my order done. I took a big bite out of the burger. Delicious. "Make some for me too!" said B.O.B. as he stretched his body through the rectangular window and peered at him with his one ruby red eye. Link grabbed the eye and tossed it back into the blue mass. "Be patient, B.O.B., we'll get your order done soon," he told him.

After they made B.O.B. his patter of burgers, Link played around and made his own special fish filet. After that, they began working on a ton of burgers for Susan. During the whole time, Link didn't really seem that talkative towards Doc. Doc didn't really seem to let it get to him as he chatted away about scientific things and using long complicated words. I was listening to him through the window, and I had no idea what half of them even meant.

I turned when I noticed B.O.B. talking to Susan about something outside. I took my burger on a plate outside to join them. Me and B.O.B. sat outside at the tables with Susan and talked about generic things while we waited for her food to be done.

Being in the restaurant and in the park brought back some memories when I was a normal little toddler. Excited to go on the rides and eat ice-cream, oblivious about the future. I look back on that young version of me, wishing I could go back. Back to the way things were. When I was with my family. When I was human.

Thinking about my family made me miss them a lot. My stomach started to ache, and I wasn't able to finish my burger. "You ok, Bat?" asked Susan. I looked up at her through my sunglasses. I hesitated before nodding my head. "Yeah...I'm ok," I said. B.O.B. pointed at my burger. "You gonna finish that?" he asked, his one beachball sized eye staring hungrily at the burger. Silently, I slid the plate over to him, looking down as he swallowed the half eaten burger whole.

A couple minutes after, Link and Doc both came out with big trays filled with burgers. They placed them down on the table me and B.O.B. were sitting at.

"Tada! thirty hamburgers! We used every single last patty," answered Doc. Link sat down at another table. The giantess smiled at the two. "Awww! thanks you guys! This was really awesome of you."

From the restaurant, the juke box was playing another Elvis song. The doors were open so we were able to enjoy the music while being outside. The pine trees rustled around us, and a couple cherry red cardinals chirped their songs on the branches, while a couple blue jays squawked overhead. Some of the dead, brown pine needles came down on the tables where we were sitting. B.O.B. tried catching a few as if they were butterflies. One landed in my hair, causing my tall bat ears to twitch.

Susan and Doc chatted. Link kept silent where he was. B.O.B. went on his own food scavenger hunt and ate dropped food around the tables. Insecto danced to the music from the juke box above us, causing some of the trees under him to bend and snap. I glanced over at Link. The fish-man had his arms crossed over his chest and was once in a while giving side looks over to Susan. I looked away and twiddled my pale fingers under the table, debating on whether to go over there and talk to him.

I couldn't stop thinking about him. I never thought this would happen to me. I kept doubting it, then finding myself thinking about him again. Over and over. It was driving me nuts. Maybe I was just overthinking the situation. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the song end on the juke box. Insecto made a small demented whimper and stopped dancing. The trees bent and swayed from his mass. Link looked up at Insecto.

"Aw, you want me to play another song for you, buddy?" he asked. Insecto made a weird noise that echoed through the park. Link smiled and got up. His eyes met mine for a moment, causing me to quickly turn away and pretend I was interested in something else over to my left.

"Does anyone have any requests?" he asked. After a couple seconds of no one answering, I got up from my spot. "I'll choose one," I finally said. My face burned from doing that. I never liked talking in front of a group of people; being the center of attention. Unlike Link who could do it and look good...I lowered my head and pressed my big bat ears to the back of my head for thinking that. If the monsters could read my thoughts, I would die of embarrassment.

I moved away from the table and walked into the restaurant. Link followed right behind me. My heart raced inside my chest. My face went from hot to cold in seconds. I tried keeping my breathing at a normal pace, but it took some effort.

I went up to the jukebox to play one last song. When I was there, I found out that the jukebox was full of Elvis songs, not all just from the fifties. My eyes trailed down the list of songs. I heard Link stop and stand right behind me. I took a deep breath and exhaled. Need to focus.

I found one song I felt that I felt fit my situation. I found it a little hard for me to play it since I didn't want the other monsters or even Link putting two and two together. I shifted my wings, making them flap a little before letting them rest on the ground behind me. I took a quick breath. _It's just a song, they wont think anything of it_ , I thought to myself; before pressing the button and turning around. I had almost forgotten that Link was standing right behind me, and bumped into him. I jumped back in surprise and bumped into the jukebox.

"Falling in Love with You," by Elvis Presley began to play from behind me. I stared up at Link with wide eyes. My whole body was on fire. I was sweating like mad. I was starting to feel claustrophobic. I quickly ducked my head and went around him. As I did, I heard Link's deep voice say something to me.

"Didn't see you as one who would play love songs, Batty Bat." I froze in my tracks. I stood right next to him. Near me, his fish tail swished a little. I swallowed slowly. "W-well...it's a good song...and...there's more to me than you know...if you...get to know me," I added as my voice began to fade away. I was such a mess. I was too afraid to move or say anything.

I sighed when Link finally shifted a little to let me go past him. I briskly walked out of the restaurant and back to the tables. The song followed Link out as he walked on all fours to the other bench. I stayed on the other bench on the opposite end, the tips of my ears burning.

I heard a noise and looked up. Insecto was staring down at me with his huge eyes. I quickly looked away from him. I felt his eyes still staring down at me. After a while, I heard him do another small screech before shifting away. The sound of snapping wood was heard from where he stood in the park.

I straightened up where I sat. I remembered that I forgot my clothes. I wasn't really worried about them since we were the only ones in the park, but I didn't want to completely forget them, and having them in my possession made me feel better...also since I needed to calm down and clear my head after making myself look like a complete idiot in front of Link.

"I'll be back," I said as I got up from the table. "Ok, Terminator," said Link. I laughed a little at that, trying to ease the tension.

As I was heading off, Doc asked if he could join me. I shrugged and told him he could. We walked off away from the others. Doc walked super fast. I was having to skip and jump a little just to keep up. I was still limping around. Surprisingly I was healing pretty fast.

"How are you feeling? You aren't bleeding anymore I see," he said as he stopped. I stopped as well as he carefully checked my mouth. He noticed that I was missing one of my fangs. I turned my head out of his hands and nodded. "Yeah. Must have gotten ripped out when I hit my mouth against one of the rocks in the river," I told him. He nodded and our small conversation faded away once we began walking again.

At the corner of my eye, I kept seeing Doc turn his head back over his shoulder. I turned my head too, looking back at the others. Link was standing on the table talking to Susan. He was boasting about some time in his life when he lifted a whole car over his head. I couldn't tell what Susan's expression was since it was hidden behind the tops of the pine trees.

When we were a good distance away, Doc finally turned to me. "Bat, may I talk to you about something?" he asked. I felt my shoulders tense up, thinking that he somehow found out that I was starting to form a crush on Link. I felt a huge wave of heat go over me, and my palms started to sweat.

"Uh...sure...what is it you want to ask me about?" I asked. My bat ears went back and pressed against the back of my head. He noticed me wanting to hang out with Link more. He knows.

The bug headed scientist hesitated before responding. "I kind of have a hypothesis that Link was jealous when he saw me and Susan talking at the benches a while ago," he said, his antennae twitching in the process.

I exhaled, realizing that I was holding my breath. "Oh...um...yes...he did. He actually asked me what you guys were talking about," I told him. My bat ears sprang back up, twitching in the process. Doc nodded.

"Well, I just want you to know that...as much as I do find Susan attractive...I know she is taken. I don't mind being her friend. I'm sure Link is the same way, but has a hard time accepting the matter. I am not trying to cause any trouble. Susan seemed upset about not being able to go on the rides and I felt that staying with her, as a friend, so she didn't feel left out."

I nodded, feeling guilty for not doing the same. Doc continued.

"I just wanted you to know, so you didn't think that I was trying to get Link to go against me or anything," Doc said. I nodded. "I don't see you as the kind of...guy that would do that," I told him truthfully. Doc smiled. "Thank you, Bat."

We walked the rest of the way in silence, weaving our way along the path. The wind rustled, causing the green pine needles to rustle and shift above us, making a nice sound. I shivered in my short sleeved Distant Land shirt. It was getting late, and the sun was slowly dipping. Up ahead I saw the bench I left my bag of clothes at. The water from my clothes had perspired and formed a dark round spot around the bag. I picked up my bag of clothes. I could feel through the bag that my clothes were now damp.

"How are you and Link doing by the way?" Doc asked, breaking the silence. "I know you two had a bad start in getting along, but, have you guys been able to let bygones be bygones?" Doc asked. I kept my eyes hidden behind my sunglasses as I stared down at my bag. I hesitated on the question, thinking back to when I fell into the river and when he saved me from drowning. That moment. When he showed kindness, and I was able to see past his gruffness, and see something that I never thought I would...

"Bat? are you ok?" the male monster asked. I looked up at Doc, then looked away, feeling a little embarrassed for not responding.

"Um...Yeah. I'm ok. I think we are getting along ok...he saved me from drowning..." I told him. My heart sank a little at a possible thought that made me overthink about. I turned away, hoping the bug headed scientist couldn't see past my sunglasses and see the expression in my eyes.

"...I'm sure you told him to go after me and see if I was ok," I responded, trying to keep my ears from drooping. When I remembered seeing him after he pulled me out of the water, he seemed irritated for having to save me, before his expression changed. I wondered if he was told to go after me by Doc or Susan to possibly catch me or break my fall.

"Actually no," Doc's response was. "He was the first to react. He raced after you without hesitation. I didn't have to tell him anything," he said, causing my ears to snap back up in surprise. "Oh," was all that I was able to muster. My face burned a little as I stared back at him. Doc smiled a small smile.

"You see? Beneath all that macho he tries to be, he really is a caring guy," Doctor Cockroach said. The blush started to feel more like a wildfire on my face. I turned my head away, adverting my eyes from behind my sunglasses.

Just then I heard a sound. I was the first to hear it. Doc saw my sudden alerted action. "What's wrong?" he asked, before long he could hear it too. It was coming from the entrance/exit of the park.

"Should we tell the others?" Doc asked. Above I heard Insecto make a concerned roar. Past the tops of the pine trees, I saw him looking up at the skies. I turned and hobbled towards the entrance as fast as I could. Doc followed after me. The sounds were getting louder and louder. I was able to make out what they were. Vehicles, jets, helicopters, voices.

The sound of chopping blades from a couple helicopters brought the memory back of my dark nightmares. I hesitated to a stop from the horrific sounds that brought back those painful nightmares. Snippets from the nightmares flashed through my mind. The crunching of tires, footsteps. Voices.

"What's going on?" asked a familiar voice, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned and found Susan coming down the path, brushing the branches away from her face. Link and B.O.B. appeared with her. Doc scuttled on all fours past me and towards the entrance. We followed.

Right as we rounded a corner near the entrance of the park, we saw a group of people in silver and white bio-hazard suits crowded around the huge alien beast's dead body. Outside of the park were a couple black, dark tinted windowed trucks and cars. A couple helicopters hovered above the trees. We slowed our pace as we all watched the strange even unfold before us. The government finally was here. When we got outside the park, we were amazed by how quiet and deserted the place around the park was.

The whole freeway was blocked off. Stores were closed, and people were evacuated from their houses. It felt as though the whole world just stopped. It reminded me somewhat of a couple zombie movies I had seen. No humans, just remains of a civilization, gone. It felt eerie and out of place.

A helicopter appeared before Insecto with cables holding up a huge light. Insecto's eyes immediately dilated and his whole body seemed to instantly relax from the luminous white light in front of him. The helicopter started to slowly hover away, with the ginormous monster slowly trailing after it, crushing trees down in the process.

Just then, a familiar cargo jet was seen flying towards us from the skies. My ears went back from the loud noise. The huge jet gradually landed in the open area that wasn't occupied by a black government jeep or a jet.

Monger stepped out from the jet and strolled casually up to us with his huge stupid grin on his face that angered me every time I saw it. "Howdy, monsters! How's everythin' goin'?" he asked. Link was the first to argue against Monger leaving us to fight the alien. Doc and Susan chimed in as well. Monger held up his hands and they all gradually went silent.

"I know, I know...I'm sorry about leavin' you guys with that beast. There was an important matter I needed to confront about something...I figured that you monsters were gonna take a while taking down the alien thing...I tried to come back as soon as possible, but, the matter took longer than I intended it to be," he told us. I narrowed my eyes a little.

"What sort of matter?" I asked him. Monger shifted as he turned to look at me.

"Classified," was all he said.

I glared at him. What the heck was he hiding from us?

I looked over to everyone else. Doc gave me a quick side glance. He didn't seem to like Monger's answer either. Link looked over to Susan, who was also narrowing her eyes a little in suspicion. B.O.B. looked over to Doc, and then me. He didn't need a brain to know that something wasn't right.

Monger quickly changed the subject before any of us could ask any more questions. "All right, monsters! Let's take you all home!" he announced as the back of the huge cargo jet opened up the hatch. Susan was the first to walk into the jet. Gradually, one by one, we all filed in.

"Seems like you guys did a pretty good job taking the alien down, I'm impressed," Monger told us as he watched the men in bio-hazard suits run past and take care of the dead alien carcass. I silently walked past Monger.

Monger looked at me for a moment before clearing his throat. "Um, Bat?" he asked. I stopped and turned to him silently. He pointed at my get up. "There something you care to explain to me why you suddenly look like a Distant Park tourist?" he asked in his Texan accent.

...


	16. Chapter 15: Senses

Chapter 15: Senses

...

The cargo jet ascended, and in mere moments, we were off. I pushed my sunglasses up the bridge of my nose as I gazed out over the park surrounded by trees. My mind began to wonder as I felt the last remaining warmth of the sun on my paper white skin again. I sighed, pressing my head against the glass.

I looked through the pine trees and I saw him once again. The scientist. He ran through the forest surrou ding the park. He seemed to flicker through the trees. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared. I took off my sunglasses for a moment, thinking I would be able to see better without the sunglasses. My eyes immediately began to tear up from the brightness of the sun, causing me to close them shut and bend over from the stinging pain.

"Bat! you ok?" I heard B.O.B. ask me. His solidified gel hand touched my back. I gradually snapped back up and placed my sunglasses back on. "I...I'm ok..." I quickly said. I didn't want any of the monsters to think or worry about me. Dark spots danced across my eyes. I was somewhat blind for a moment. I felt like I had taken a glance at the sun.

I glanced over to Doc through the dark spots. He gave me a quick glance before looking past me and out my window. I hoped he knew what I was thinking. Doc turned back to me, gave me a sad look before avoiding my gaze. He was having a hard time believing me. Being the scientist that he was, he needed evidence. I sighed and lowered my head slightly. I must be going crazy...or "batty" as Link would have liked to put it. I wouldn't have believed myself...if the scientist hadn't touched me. I had felt his grip.

I blinked and snapped my head up. Link. He was there. He had to have seen the scientist. I turned over to where Link sat in the huge cargo hold, near a couple of parked jeeps. It took me a moment to find my voice and speak up over the loud sounds of the roaring engine.

"Link...can I ask you something?" I asked him. Link turned his head over to me, his finned ears flicking up. "Uh, sure. What's up?" He asked in his deep voice. I took a breath and exhaled. "When we were fighting that alien thing, and I was sent flying over the treetops...and you saved me...did you...did you see anything? Er, I mean anyone?" I asked him. Link stared at me for a moment.

"What do you mean?" he asked. I tried explaining what I meant as best as I could. Link narrowed his eyes a little. His eyes flickered over to Doc and Susan, then he shook his head. "Erm...No...sorry," he said. Something about the way he acted told me that he was lying.

Monger overheard us talking and came over to where I sat. "What's this you are talking about, Miss Bat?" he asked me. I opened my mouth, then closed it and turned my head to the side.

"Classified," I responded back to him. The whole back of the cargo went silent. The four monsters stsred at me with wide eyes at what I just said. I could hear their hearts beating, except B.O.B.'s since he didn't have a heart. I sensed their emotions. It was weird. I didnt realize it until now how powerful my senses were. Besides everyones breathing and heartbeats, the only other sounds were the hums and noises from the plane itself. Monger narrowed his eyes at me as he clasped his hands firmly behind his back.

"Don't you start sassing me, missy. I know you didn't like my explanation about the other certain matter, but I am only trying to protect you," he said. I turned my head back to him and bared my one fang. "Protect me from what?" I asked angrily. Monger noticed my one fang sticking out. He seemed to want to question about it, then dismissed it. He glanced over at the other monsters before answering.

"I know you, and most likely the rest of you, are finding me a bit shady and secretive at the moment, but it's only until I am one hundred percent sure..." his voice faltered after that. He looked nervous. His eyes met each of us.

"I'll just tell you guys this...the government is hiding something from me...I know every secret the governmet has...but for some reason, they started this little secret party and they are keeping me in the dark about it..." Monger turned his focus to me.

"...and it has something to do with Bat..." he answered.

I felt everyone's eyes on me, making me feel insecure. I wanted to hide. B.O.B.'s eye narrowed. "Bat didn't do anything wrong if that is what you are saying!" The blue blob said, defending me. Monger placed his hands up.

"I ain't saying that Bat did anything wrong, Big Blue. I'm just sayin' that they know something I don't know and ain't telling me," he replied. Link cocked his head to one side suspiciously. He was facing us in the circle now. His fish tail flicked behind him.

"How do you know that it's about Bat?" He asked. Monger hesitated on the question. "It was during the meeting I attended when I left you guys. They mentioned her and that's it. That's all I know," he said. The gemeral eyed me one last time. "Once I know for sure what they are doing, I will tell you," he promised. I nodded silently. For the first time, I believed him. I could hear it in his voice. He was being honest.

The monsters exchanged silent, worried glances. Everyone was quiet for a while. I was confused and scared for what the general told us. The government keeping something from Monger, and me being a part of it. I didn't like the sound of it. Made me feel that I did do something wrong.

With that, Monger turned on his heels away from me and headed back to the ladder that ascended up to the pilot's cock pit.

"Next stop, Bat's home!" yelled Monger before ascending the ladder and disappearing back to the front of the cargo jet. My spirits rose, and then twisted into heavy knots. My home. My family. I was finally coming home. I fumbled with my fingers nervously.

"You ok, Bat? We thought you would be excited to finally see your family," Doc said. I hesitated and continued to rub my hands together nervously. "I am...I just...I don't know how my family will react seeing me like...this," I replied, gesturing to myself, indicating my bat features, pale complexion, and my creepy yellow eyes.

Susan placed the tips of her fingers on my shoulders. "They wont think any different. They will still love you and be very excited to see you again," she assured me. I looked up at her and gave her a weak smile. "Thanks," I said.

Susan smiled back. "I guess that means you won't be able to meet my fiance, Derek, since we are stopping at your house first," she said. I rubbed the back of my head. "Well, maybe I can meet him some other time...or maybe if you invite me to the wedding," I said, though I didn't want to invite myself when I wasn't even invited to the first one in the first place. Susan beamed excitedly anyway. She removed her hand from my shoulder, straightened up where she sat, and clapped her big hands together once.

"Of course! I'd love for you all to be there," she said glancing over to the three male monsters. Doc and B.O.B. smiled happily. Link gave a forced smile then turned away from us where he sat.

"So, what is your family like Bat?" asked Susan as she looked down at me. I thought for a minute.

"Well…I guess you could say they are…normal," I told Susan.

She laughed.

"Do you have any siblings?" asked Link, turning back to me.

"Just one. A younger sister," I answered him nervously. He didn't seem to like my answer as he turned back around, his back facing me.

"Do you have any pets?" asked B.O.B. happily, making me turn ae at from the grumpy fish hybrid.

I nodded. "One dog and one cat," I responded. B.O.B. cocked his "head" to one side. "Awwww. I can't wait to see them," he said. Him saying that made me very nervous.

"I can't wait to meet your family," Susan responded, making the blood drain from my already pale face. They wanted to meet my family? It never occurred to me that the monsters wanted to see where I lived and who I was related to. I guess since they haven't been in the outside world for very long, and were very curious about my life before I became a monster.

As we continued flying over the neighborhoods and freeways, I told them about my family and where I lived. I lived in a quaint, nice little neighborhood with one story houses. I lived about a mile away from my high school. I was a sophomore. It was about a month away from school being over and summer starting...My voice began to fade when I found myself in the black nothingness in my memories. I couldn't remember anything that happened during the last month of school...

It was like it was erased completely from my mind. I found myself wandering through the darkness where the memory should be. I was gently shaken out of my thoughts by Doc. I shook my head, clearing the dark place I was in and tried remembering a happy memory when I was normal.

...

The landscape and suburban neighborhoods outside became more and more familiar. Finally we were down my neighborhood. The cargo jet gradually descended down till it landed in the middle of the asphalt street. Thankfully there were no cars around at the moment. The jet's wings folded up in order to fit in the middle of the street. The back door of the cargo jet yawned open. We all filed out. My house was at the end of a street, and another street going horizontal, so I guess in a T.

I started to breathe heavily. I felt sick.

"Which one is your house, Bat?" B.O.B. asked. I silently pointed to the house in front of us. The monsters looked where I was pointing. My house was a avacado green, one-story house. It had a nice cut lawn and some plants in random areas. It had a cement driveway for my parent's cars. On the grass it had stepping stones leading up to the house.

It looked kind of like a cottage house. A nice, homey cottage house. The monsters looked at it for a bit. "Wow! Its very nice," complimented Doc. Susan agreed as well. I hesitated before walking up to my house. The monsters followed me. Well, the three male monsters did, Susan just stood in the middle of the street.

I rubbed my gloved hands nervously before I rang the doorbell. I heard my dog barking from inside the house. My heart pounded heavily inside my chest. My heart felt sore and bruised from slamming around inside my ribcage. I was about to ring the doorbell again when I heard footsteps from the other side. The door clicked unlocked and swung open. My mom stood at the doorway.

My eyes widened and a small nervous smile came to my face. My mom had the same brown color hair as me, only it was longer. She wore blue jeans with some white house paint smudges on it and an olive green baggy sweater. Her brown eyes widened in shock at the sudden sight of five monsters at her doorstep. I quickly took a step forward, tears forming in my eyes.

"H-hi mom," I said. I told her it was me and I said my name. I kept my sunglasses on, too afraid to remove them and reveal more of the monster I have become. My dog continued to bark at me and the monsters. I quickly knelt down for her to sniff my hand.

"Hey girl, it's me-"

"Is that your sister?" asked B.O.B. as he came up next to me and looked at my dog. My dog stopped sniffing me and began barking again at the blue blob. My dog was a small black and white terrier.

Just then, I heard footsteps coming from within the house. My sister appeared next to my mom. My sister was a couple years younger than me. She was in middle school. Her eyes were pale blue and she had straw blonde hair, the total opposite of my parents and my hair. She wore a hand me down of one of my old shirts and a pair of jeans.

Her mouth dropped open as she stared at me. I smiled a big nervous smile and gave her a small wave . "Hey, sis," I said. My sister didn't respond. She stared at my bat features like they were contagious diseases.

My sister whispered my real name. Her eyes were wide with terror. My mom called for my dad. When my dad came, he reacted the same way. They looked more shocked and horrified than happy to see me. I felt rooted to the ground, too nervous to go up and hug them. I turned around and found my monster friends still behind me. Everyone was too afraid to speak or do anything. I decided it was best if I broke the ice between my family and monster friends.

"Um…mom, dad, sis...These are my new friends…" I gestured to the four monsters behind me. My family didn't say anything. My dog stopped barking and sniffed my shoes.

"They wont hurt you," I added, hoping that info would help. My family didn't relax. I suspected they were having a hard time taking this all in. I decided to continue on and introduce each monster to them. I first pointed to Doc. "This is Dr. Cockroach. He is a brilliant scientist who can make any invention out of trash," I explained to them.

Doc smiled at my family "Hello," he said politely and bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you," he added. My sister stared at his enormous bug head.

I pointed to Link.

"This is the Missing Link. He's very strong and was found frozen in a block of ice," I told them.

My parents stood there frozen to the spot.

"You can just call me Link," he said as he smiled and showed his sharp teeth. My dad's face blamched at the sight of Link's teeth. I hastily continued. "This is B.O.B. He was an experiment with a tomato and a special food dressing," I said as I pointed to the blue blob. He waved.

"Hi there!" He said in his energetic voice. Neither of my family members waved back. I began to have a bad feeling about the whole situation. Each passing second was getting more and more awkward. Last but not least, I pointed up to the white haired giantess.

"And this is Ginormica, but we call her by her human name, which is Susan. She got hit by a meteorite which contained some sort of weird sibstance that causedd her to grow to her giant size," I told my family. "Hi," said Susan, as she smiled from above.

I turned back to my paralyzed family. "Um...Yeah...so those are my new friends..." I took a moment to think what I was going to say. I looked down at myself before pointing to my Distant Land clothes. "We just fought an alien at Distant Land. I got my clothes wet from the river so I had to borrow clothes from the park..." I continued to ramble nervously.

"Um...I have kind of changed as well..." I told them as I decided to take off my sunglasses and show them my eyes. The sunlight had dipped low over the horizon and was dark enough for me to be able to take them off without going blind from the light. My family gasped at the sight of my horrific yellow, cat like eyes. I placed the sunglasses back on.

"...Yeah so...I am now a monster too...I don't know how. Kind of all just happened. The government calls me Bat-"

Suddenly, my sister burst into tears and hugged me. Her breathing was uneven and her heart was beating like a frantic butterfly in her chest. I was taken aback by the sudden reaction. I gradually hugged my sister back. My mom was in tears as well as my dad. Their tears didn't seem like tears of happiness. Something didn't feel right.

"What's going on? Aren't you guys happy to see me?" I asked. I wasn't sure why they were acting different. I could hear their hearts beating in an offset pattern. They seemed overwhelmed and horrified. I don't know how I knew, but I could sense it. I could feel their emotions. There was something defiantly wrong. We're they terrified by my appearance? Did they not like my new friends?

My mom was the first to explain. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "A couple months ago, when you disappeared...two men came to our house..." she took a shaky breath and exhaled before continuing.

"They said they were part of the governemt...they said you died..."

That moment in my life...was the only time when the whole world went dead quiet, and I couldn't hear anything at all. Not even my own heartbeat...

...


	17. Chapter 16: Goodbyes

Chapter 16: Goodbyes

...

My family and I went inside to talk in private while my monster friends stayed outside. Inside the house was cool, in comparison to outside, which was hot since it was the middle of summer. We sat at the dining room table. I sat on one end, while my family sat or stood on the other side. As I talked to my family about what happened, my mind began filling the gap in my memory.

According to my parents, I had run off after they had got into another huge fight. This one must have been serious since it caused me to run away from home. They had no idea where I ran, but the next day or so, two men in black suits had come to the door and told them that I had died. They held a "funeral" for me a couple weeks later. While I gathered all this information, I felt like all the blood had drained from me.

The government lied to my family. They told everyone close to me that I was dead. I suddenly felt so isolated from the world. So detached. I didn't know how to react. My family hugged me multiple times. Tears came down my face. I wanted to go into my room and cry under the covers. I wanted this all to be a bad dream. Why did the government lie to my family? How could they have known about me and my whereabouts?

My family changed the subject a little by asking me about my...condition. They asked if I sucked blood or if they needed to toss the garlic out of the fridge. I told them I didn't suck blood, though it didn't matter with the garlic. I already hated garlic in the first place. I told them about the couple of months I was in that secret monster facility, which I assumed it was the place Monger didn't want me mentioning out loud, and my monster name. I also told them what I knew about my new monster self.

I told them I could hear and smell very well, my eyes were sensitive to sunlight but I could see well in the dark, and I had a sonic scream. I didn't demonstrate since we were inside the house and that would have ended badly. My sister asked if I could fly as she pointed to my drooping wings. I moved my wings out of their perspective before sadly shaking my head silently.

After we were done talking, I asked if I could be excused and if I could talk to my friends outside. My mom nodded her head and I quietly left my family and headed towards the front door. I came outside to where the others were. Susan was quietly telling B.O.B. not to eat the flowers that grew from the pots on the edges of the lawn. Link and Doc sat on the bench and wooden chairs outside the house. They quickly stood up when they saw me.

"Is everything ok?" asked Link.

I nodded and rubbed my arm nervously. "Yeah..." I lied. Nothing was right. Everything was a mess. It was so confusing. I didn't understand why this was happening to me.

"What did your family say? Do they know anything else?" Doc asked. I took a deep breath and sighed, shaking my head. "No. They now know as much as I do." I answered. The monsters and I were quiet as we stood there in front of my house.

"Maybe we should tell Monger about this," offered Susan. I shrugged. I guess. The general seemed to be on my side about the whole thing. I figured I could give him more information against "The Secret Party," as we were calling them, that was causing all this madness.

Susan got up and walked back to the jet. Seconds later, Monger came out from the cargo jet to see what had happened. I told him about the incident with my family and the government. He was silent for a long time. Then he nodded his head.

"All right. Thanks for telling me Miss Bat. I'll handle it...May I talk to your parents for a minute?" he asked. I nodded my head and lead him inside. My family was still sitting at the table. They looked up when they saw the general. My dad got up and shook hands with him. With that, Monger began talking to my family about the incident. He told them that he was part of the government and that he was going to fix whatever mess the government has done to involve me.

After a handful of seconds talking and explaining, Monger checked his watch. "Oh, better be heading off, it was nice meeting ya'll...and don't worry. I am going to get to the bottom of this." He gave my family a salute, turned on his heels and walked out. I walked out with him.

"Monsters! Time to go!" he announced as he walked down the steps and back to the cargo jet.

My monster friends and I were silent as we stood on my front lawn. I could hear their hearts beating in offset patterns. It was freaky and annoying. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get used to it. But I could tell that they were a little sad to leave. I didn't need to know how B.O.B. felt, even with the lack of a heart. He wore his expression right on his gel like face. He looked to be at the brink of crying.

Finally, Doc broke the silence between all of us and turned his head to me.

"Well then...I guess this is goodbye," Doc finally said. I felt my heart beat heavily and sink inside my chest. Goodbye. It felt like such a heavy word. A 'never going to see you again' word. I didn't want this to be goodbye. The monsters were my friends. They were all heading back to their homes, to live the rest of their lives and catch up on what they had missed while being in prison.

I sighed as I silently nodded my head. I guess it was for the best. We all got what we wanted. Our freedom. Now it was time to try and settle back into our normal lives. _I wish it didn't have to be this way,_ I thought to myself with a small, pained expression on my face.

Doc gave me a handshake and a hug. Susan gave me a giant hug, mostly it was just her huge hands wrapping around me. I looked over to Link, hoping to get a hug from him next, but B.O.B. grabbed me before I could move and wrapped me in one of his infamous gooey hugs.

"I'm gonna miss you, Bat! Please call me everyday and tell me how everything is going!" he said in a sad, drippy voice. I pulled away from him, all soaked. I felt like I fell in a vat of hair gel. I flicked my arms out from me and wiped the goo from my sunglasses. Once I got some of it off, I slowly turned to Link, who was looking down at me with a concerned look on his face. Seeing his finned ears flick back and his tail swish behind him nervously, I could tell that he didn't want to hug me. I held my arms out anyway and gave him a huge smile, hoping he would still hug me anyway.

Instead, Link stuck out his hand for an awkward handshake. "Erm...See ya around, Batty Bat," he said. My shoulders sagged a little and the smile died from my face. "Yeah...see you around, Fishstick," I said in a soft voice, shaking his hand. _Would he have hugged me if B.O.B. didn't hug me first?_ I wondered to myself. My thoughts disappeared when I felt the coat of B.O.B.'s gel like substance starting to harden all over from the remaining sun. I quickly began wiping the rest of the goo off before I froze into a statue.

After the goodbyes, the monsters began walking back to the cargo jet. The further they walked away, the more sad I felt. Once they were inside the jet, they turned and waved goodbye. I gave a wave back. The cargo doors closed and I couldn't see my friends anymore. The jet's engines roared to life. A car came by, but immediately stopped when it saw the jet. The person inside gawked in shock, wondering why the hell there was a government jet in the middle of the street.

I watched the cargo jet slowly ascend up above the rooftops and treetops, being careful not to scrape up against anything. Once it was high up in the sky, it took off across the skies. I watched it with tears in my eyes till it was out of sight.

...


	18. Chapter 17: Conspiracies

Chapter 17: Conspiracies

...

The first couple hours trying to settle back in to my home was difficult, and a little uncomfortable. My mom made dinner for me, chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots. I wasn't hungry. I picked at my food, thinking about my monster friends, and possibly my last friends since my normal friends were going to freak out and run away at the sight of me. My ears flicked around to the sounds coming from the house. My family was silent as they stared at me from across the dining room table. I looked up and they quickly looked down at their plates of food.

I couldn't really be mad at them for staring. They first thought I had died; and suddenly out of the blue a couple months later, here I am, alive and a monster. Terrifying, and grotesque. Well, not so much grotesque, just...creepy. My eyes freaked me out as well. It was very unnatural. Everything about me was unnatural. I guess that's why it didn't take long for my friends to get used to my appearance. They were used to seeing out of the ordinary things.

I heard a small whine, interrupting my thoughts, causing me to lean over and look down under the table. My dog stared back at me, panting and wagging her tail. She seemed unaffected by my new appearance...unless all she was looking at was my food.

I sighed and gave my plate of untouched food to my dog. My black and white cocker spaniel mix wagged her tail happily and gobbled up the food under the table. I made sure the bones were out of the chicken. With that, I got up from the table.

"I'm going to my room," I muttered to them, adverting my eyes from my family. My mom asked if I wanted anything else, but I just shook my head and continued away from the dinner table, my wings dragging behind me.

I walked down the short hallway to my room. Right when I walked inside, I found my room just how I left it the day I ran away from home. Its walls were painted a very dark blue with white dots as stars painted across them, and a nice, painted crescent moon in the corner. I had shelves of books I was going to read over the summer, but that goal had been set back. I had posters of bats, Jack Skellington, and Invader Zim. My discarded clothes that I forget to pick up all over the ground. I'm not much of a neat freak.

On one of my dressers were action figures of classic monsters. I had The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, The Fly, and Frankenstein's monster. I picked up the Creature and stared down at his painted face. The Creature was my favorite monster. Not because of Link. I loved the Creature before I met him. I had the first and second movies on tape. I still am trying to get them on DVD. I had a shirt with his face on it. I used to draw The Creature in my sketchbooks a lot, and even painted him in my art class from high school.

He was the best classic monster. He went through so much shit. I felt that I was beginning to understand the pain of being a monster. I "died," then came back again. People were terrified of me. I suddenly felt so alone. I wiped the tears from my eyes and sighed as I stared back down at the Gill man.

As I did...I admit...I couldn't help but to think of Link as I stared down at the action figure...

I heard my sister coming down the hallway. I placed the figure down and turned to the doorway. My sister peeked her head inside. She jolted when she saw me staring at her from my room. "Man, you are scary," she muttered. I gave her a look. She placed her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, you can hear me," she realized. I nodded as I fished my sunglasses out of my pocket and placed them back on. I didn't like the way she stared at my creepy eyes. Might as well get used to wearing sunglasses for the rest of my life.

My sister came into my room and looked around. "It's been a while since I have been in here," she told me. I continued to stare at her. "You never went in my room after I "died?"" I asked her. She nodded. "It was hard for me to accept that you were gone...too many things reminded me of you..." she said. I could hear the pace in her heart changing. She was going to cry. Sure enough, I heard her sniff and turn away, wiping her tears on the back of her hand.

I was surprised since my sister always liked my room and wanted a couple things from it, but I guess the trauma kept her from doing so. The objects were now painful reminders of me. I guess that's why my family left my room the way it was. Didn't have the heart to go through and get rid of anything. I'm glad they didn't.

My sister changed the subject by looking over to my bat wings. She came up and ran her fingers across one of them. The wing fluttered and finally flicked away from her touch, almost on act of impulse. My sister pretended not to notice.

"You are so lucky you got bat features," she told me.

I smiled weakly. I truthfully didn't feel lucky. I felt like a freak. I couldn't fly, I couldn't go out in broad daylight without wearing sunglasses. My eyes were a fright. I was a monster. I wanted to be normal again. There was nothing "lucky" about the situation I was in...

...

At night I laid awake in my bed, Staring up at my ceiling. I couldn't sleep. After everything that happened, it felt so weird to suddenly be back home in a normal environment. Well, somewhat normal. I was a monster, everyone thought I was dead, and the government was keeping secrets that somehow involved me.

I turned over on my side and tried closing my eyes. My ears picked up to sounds outside. Crickets chirping, a raccoon wandering in my mom's garden, an owl swooping down and picking up a running mouse in my neighbor's backyard. Hearing all these noises, I never usually heard when I was normal, was driving me insane.

Suddenly I heard a different noise. It sounded like a huge bird had landed on the roof on the other side of the house. An owl? no. My bat ears were sticking straight up. Straining to hear more. I heard shuffling, then footsteps. Human like footsteps. On the roof.

I kicked the sheets off my bed and turned off my fan. (The fan was irritating too, but it was keeping me cool during this hot summer night.) I didn't bother changing out of my pajamas, which were black shorts and a black t-shirt with a skeleton design on it. I lifted up my dragging wings and held them above the floor, to keep them from making any noise and waking up my sister and parents. With that, I made my way out of my room, down the hall, towards the backdoor. Once I found it, I unlocked the door and went outside.

Once I was outside, I gently lowered my wings down on the ground. The summer night air was warm, and a small breeze blew gently through the trees near the wooden fences. I turned to the left where an old childhood playground set was still set up very close to my house. It was a rusty, but sturdy, metal monkey-bars.

I climbed up onto the monkey-bars next to my house and pulled myself up on them. They reached up close to the height of the roof so I was able to climb up and go on top. Once I got on top, I carefully walked across the roof, hoping my parents wouldn't hear me. This was where I usually went to think, also to watch the sunsets. The sunset was long gone by now, and only showed the night sky. I stared across the rooftop and found the figure causing the noise.

The scientist.

A warm summer breeze blew across, causing the scientist's white lab coat to rustle, and the trees behind him that grew past the rooftop. It was dark, but I could see him clearly. He had curly, messy black hair and caramel colored skin. His clothes looked different this time. He wore ironed black pants and a buttoned up blue shirt with a plaid pattern on them. His lab coat had the same weird symbol that I had seen at the monster prison I was being held at.

I stared at his eyes. They were dark brown, then green, then blue.

"Hello," he said. His voice was different from how he looked. I didn't say anything. The scientist clasped his hands behind his back. "I've been expecting you," he said. I found my voice to speak. "Who are you? Why are you following me?" I asked. The scientist took a breath before continuing.

"I am someone whom you can trust. I know some things," he answered. He took a step forward, causing me to take a step back. The rooftop had a couple small rocks on top, which hurt my bare feet. I felt somewhat stupid for not grabbing any shoes. I ignored the pain and kept my focus on the scientist.

"What do you know?" I asked. The scientist looked up to the night skies before looking back down to me. "I know why the government has secrets involving you...I know how you became a monster," he added. My heart skipped a beat. The scientist continued.

"It wasn't an accident, if that is what you think. The government made it look like it was. Their conspiracies are what caused all of this," he added. I took a step forward. "What do you mean they made it look like an accident? How do you know about the conspiracies?" I asked.

The scientist stared back at me for a while. "...Because I was there. I saw the whole thing. I was part of their conspiracies," he replied. My repeating dream came back to me. The cliff, the waters below. The tree. The scientist. He was there. Staring back at me, just like he was doing now.

"Are you one of them?" I asked him. The scientist shook his head. "No...Like I said, I am someone whom you can trust. I am not part of the government, or any organization."

His eyes changed color one last time, only this time they changed to my eyes. The yellow eyes with the black slit. Cat-like. They blinked, but stayed the same. I stared at his eyes in surprise.

"What are you?" I asked him.

He wasn't able to answer.

The loud sounds of chopping blades erupted the calm night. A couple blinding lights glared down on us from above. I cupped my hands around my sensitive eyes. My ears flicked back and pressed down against the back of my head. I turned to the scientist. He was bent over, crying out in pain from the blinding lights. I grabbed his arm.

"Come on!" I shouted. He got his legs moving, but kept his head down low. I did the same. We ran across the rooftop, away from the blinding lights and loud sounds. I slowed to a stop and turned my head, closing my eyes in the process. I could hear where the helicopters were.

I blindly faced them on the rooftop. I took a deep breath, and screamed at the first one. A loud explosion was heard soon after, knocking me off my feet. I felt hands grab my arms and lift me to my feet. I opened my eyes for a minute and found the scientist wincing back at me. His eyes stayed the same like mine.

His body seemed to blur and change. I grabbed his arm, but it felt different than an actual human arm. Terrified, I pulled back. We continued running till we got to the other side of the house on the rooftop. I showed him the monkey bars and started climbing down them. The scientist stared in confusion at the metal obstacle in front of him. I told him to climb down.

Instead of doing what I asked him to do, he did the complete, _complete_ opposite. He shifted and turned into a black bird, flapped his wings, flew over the monkey bars, and disappeared into the night.

I didn't have time to gawk in shock when another helicopter flew over me, shining its light down upon me. The sound of the blades grating into my ears. I ran. My wings lifted up and I tried flapping them as fast as I could, I got lifted up a couple of feet, which made my heart leap a little bit. I ran around to the side of the house, around trashcans and garden tools.

I opened the side gate and bolted out along the front driveway. As I did, I got half blinded by all the flashing lights and beams from the helicopters. There were three hovering around my house. The blades caused my hair, wings and ears to violently sway and whip around my head. I lifted my arms up to my face. The whole situation felt like dejavu to me. While my eyes were shut, I could hear one of the helicopters descending down on the front of my lawn. I strained to look.

A man in a black suit came out of the helicopter. His hair was black and cut short. His shoes were polished and wore a nice looking watch. He wore sunglasses, but even with them on, I could see a white scar running along across his face, from his chin, to the top of his forehead. He grinned at me with a set of white teeth.

"Hello, missy. You are coming with us," he said. I moved away from him. I took a deep breath and screamed at him. He was sent flying backwards and crashed into the helicopter. Thankfully not in the blades, though years later, I will wish I did. He crumpled to the ground and laid motionless. Several other men came out of the helicopter to help the man in the suit.

Once the man came to, his eyes were wide and his teeth were clenched. I could hear his heart beating frantically like a little bird. He was paralyzed. He was rocking violently back and forth, but he couldn't do anything. Half of his face was bleeding. I turned my head when I heard another noise, a shout from my house.

My family stood at the front door in their pajamas. Behind them, were men in armored attire, almost like a SWAT team. They held some weird type of gun to their heads. One of them was shouting at me to back down. My family's eyes were wide and filled with shock, fear, and confusion. I cried out to them and ran towards them.

"Leave them alone!" I cried out. I didn't really know what I was doing then. I was afraid.

The men pulled the trigger to the guns. "No!" I screamed as I slowed to a stop. Instead of seeing the regular effect of a normal gun, this gun acted different. No bullets came out, only a flash of green light. The team released my family. My family swayed a little and held their heads. I came up to them. "Mom! Dad!" I cried out.

Once their three pairs of eyes met mine, they screamed in full terror. I slowed my pace down and watched as they quickly rushed backwards from me. It was like they...didn't know who I was. I felt a huge pain inside my chest. I felt their fear. They were terrified of me. Why were they suddenly terrified of me? It was like they had completely forgotten who I was...and only saw a monster. The guns. It erased their memories.

The men pulled my mom, dad and sister, back into the house and closed the door. I stood there, unable to move or speak. My family...They were so terrified of me...

A sudden sharp pain hit me in my back. At first I thought it was a mosquito so I instinctively slapped it. My fingers made contact with the thing that hit me. It was a dart. I turned around to find the man who spoke to me earlier. His upper body was lifted up by two men. His arm was extended out toward me. In his hand, he held a dart gun. An evil grin was plastered on his face. His hair moved wildly around, as well as his tie, from the whipping blades above him.

"Nowhere to run, Experiment Six," he said, grinning. I staggered where I stood. I couldn't think straight. What was happening? I felt tired. I fell to my knees. I pulled the dart out. My arms felt like jelly. The world was spinning. I was going down.

Once I went down, I saw something descending from the night sky above the helicopters. It was a jet. The doors opened and I saw four familiar monsters jump out before the jet even landed. The paralyzed man with the scar on his face barked orders and waved his one good, movable arm around. The men picked him up and instantly took off in the helicopter. Susan tried grabbing it, but the blades from the helicopter sliced her hands. She cried out in pain and pulled them close to her chest.

Blood rained down from above the blood stained whirring blades of the helicopter took off into the night. The dark clad teams filed out from my house and into the helicopters. Once they were in, the remaining helicopters followed suit and took off after the other helicopter. Soon the loud thrumming sounds of the crafts were gone and silence filled the hot, night air. The one I took down earlier was on my neighbors front lawn and was on fire.

The corners of my vision were going blurry and black. I couldn't move.

From where I could see, I saw Doc run over on all fours to go check on Susan as she crouched down and showed her bleeding fingers to him. Link and B.O.B. ran over to me where I laid on the driveway, losing consciousness. The two male monsters stood over me. B.O.B. said some things to me, waving his hands in front of my face. I was having a hard time hearing and focusing on their faces. Above their heads, I saw a black bird fly across the night sky...

I had no recollection of what happened after, because I blacked out...

...


	19. Chapter 18: Back in Monster Prison

Chapter 18: Back in Monster Prison

...

* * *

...

This was the second time I got hit by a dart. The feeling wasn't great. Waking up was rough. I was sore all over, and my head felt like it got hit by a sledgehammer. I gradually woke up and blinked my eyes.

It took me a long moment to figure out where I was.

I was in a room. It reminded me of a nurse's office. I was on a cot bed. There were several others near me. The room was dark, but I could see fine. At first I thought I had hit my head and my family had taken me to the hospital. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a familiar sight:

The glowing red button to open up the wall. I felt sick to my stomach. I looked down at myself and noticed that I was wearing black attire with orange trim, very similar to what Susan wore. I had no idea what was going on. Was I back in monster prison? My head was throbbing and a loud buzzing sound was heard in my ears. Sluggishly, I got out of my cot bed. I quickly grabbed my sunglasses I saw on the dresser near me and placed them on and headed towards the wall.

I pushed the button and the door opened up. I winced a little from the bright light. My eyes widened when I saw that everything was different. The cold prison setting of grey windowless walls was gone and instead, was set like a living room. The lighting was more warm and welcoming. The walls were wallpapered with soft greens and an interesting pattern. The couches were a creamy white and looked very comfortable. The floor was wooden. There was even a fireplace, but there was no wood or a roaring fire.

I saw Monger, B.O.B., Susan, Link and Doc in the room.

Everyone stopped talking when they noticed me slowly walking towards them. No one sat at the couches. Everyone stood in a weird circle around the couches. B.O.B. had one of the white pillows floating in his blue mass. Link and Doc turned away when they saw me.

Susan turned her head and saw me. She didn't smile. Instead, she had a weary, worried look on her face. I looked over to her hands that were trembling close to her chest. They were bandaged.

"Hello Bat! How are you feeling?" Monger asked. I didn't answer his question. I'm sure the look on my face showed exactly how I felt. "What time is it?" I asked, in a soft and sluggish voice. "Close to midnight," Monger said. I groaned softly and rubbed my eyes from under the sunglasses. No one said anything. I decided to break the silence.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?" asked Doctor Cockroach.

It took me a minute to remember.

"All I remember is...I met the scientist," I said. Monger gave me a look. "The scientist?" he asked. I told him about my encounters with the strange scientist. Monger seemed a bit confused at first, but didn't seem to think I was crazy.

"Hm...What did he tell you?" he asked. It took me another good amount of minutes to try and remember everything that happened. It was horrible. I felt like someone just destroyed part of my brain. I was still sore all over. Bruises on top of bruises. I didn't think I was ever going to heal.

Once pieces began fitting together, I told him what I remembered that moment we met on the rooftop. He wasn't part of the government, and that he could be trusted.

"He doesn't sound like someone we could trust. Could be a trap," Link said as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

I turned away and looked down on the ground. "...Our conversation was cut short when the government helicopters arrived," I continued. Some parts were very fuzzy to me and I couldn't remember how I got down off the roof. I remembered seeing the scientist jump off the roof, then turn into something black and just...disappear. It came back to me later that he turned into a bird. Monger and the monsters looked at me dumbfounded.

"A bird?" asked Doc.

"You sure it wasn't a bat? Another batty bat like you?" teased Link.

Susan and Doc both gave Link a glare. "Be respectful, Link!" Susan snapped. Link placed his hands up in defense. "Hey I'm just asking-" he started, but was interrupted by Susan, asking for me to continue.

I stared down at the ground as I continued. I told them the one thing I remembered clearly that night, was when my family instantly forgot who I was. I remembered their screams. Tears came down my eyes, and fell to the floor. No one spoke. I could hear their heartbeats and feel their emotions. Monger's emotions were settle in comparison to the others. I guess because he got them drilled out of him when he joined the army.

I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand.

Doc came up and handed me a handkerchief. "It's ok, Bat," he told me. I wiped my wet eyes with the handkerchief. Monger nodded his head. "Don't you worry, little lady. I'll make sure your family is treated and gains their memories back," he assured me. Doc patted my shoulder gently. I breathed through my teeth when his hand touched a sensitive spot. He quickly removed his hand away.

"Sorry," he said.

"Was there anything else you remember?" Monger asked. I thought for a moment again.

"There was a man...he seemed to be the one in charge...I think..." I said, looking up. Monger narrowed his eyes a little. "What did he look like?" he asked. I hesitated. The scene was blurry. I closed my eyes and tried focusing, but my brain felt like mush. I gently rubbed my forehead when it started to hurt.

"...I remember...a scar...the man had a long scar on his face..." I said. Monger's expression changed. His emotions were filled with hate. "John," he muttered. The others had to ask what he said, but I was able to hear him easily.

"What does John want with me?" I asked. Monger shook his head. "I don't know, yet. But I'll tell you this. John is not to be trusted. He's a slimy, no good son of a gun. I figured he would be behind all of this."

"Who is he?" asked Susan.

"He's one of the top men of the government, so he thinks that he can do whatever he wants. He's definitely someone you shouldn't trust," Monger explained. I lifted my head up when I remembered something else. "He called me Experiment Six..." I said. Everyone turned to look at me. I swallowed and continued.

"...Why did he call me that?" I asked. Monger sadly shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I wish I could tell you," he said.

"It doesn't sound good, that's for sure," Link said.

I nodded my head.

B.O.B. broke the seriousness in the conversation by coming up with his theory on the subject. "Maybe it has something to do with experiments...and the number six..." he offered. Doc sighed and rubbed his forehead.

I yawned in exhaustion. Monger noticed and clapped his hands together. "Well, I guess it's time for all of you to head to your rooms and get a good night sleep," he said. I blinked. "What?" I asked, turning to the others. "I thought you guys were going home," I asked.

The four monsters before me all exchanged sad glances.

Susan sighed and spoke first. Basically, the monsters went to Modesto where Susan lives. She introduced Link, B.O.B. and Doc to her parents, then left them to host a small party with some of Susan's friends while she went off to go find Derek. Unfortunately, Derek was revealed to be a complete jerk and broke up with Susan. During that, Link filled in on what happened at the party. Apparently it didn't go well and all of Susan's family and friends ended up screaming and running for their lives.

After hearing their side of the story, I still thought it ended way better than mine did.

"So...You guys weren't able to go home?" I asked. Susan nodded, fighting back her tears. "I'm as big as my house, I can't live my normal life," Susan said, crestfallen.

Doc sighed and nodded his head. "I accidentally blew up my home after turning into...this," he gestured to himself. "Also I don't think my homeland wants me back," he admitted.

B.O.B. nodded his head. "Yeah, I lost my home too. I was frozen in a block of ice for twenty thousand years-" he started, but Link interrupted him. "No, B.O.B., that's my story. I was frozen in a block of ice. You ate the factory you were created from," Link corrected him.

"...Oh yeah," B.O.B. said, just realizing.

Link rubbed the back of his head. "I also couldn't leave Insecto behind. He has no place to go either..." he admitted. Then Link turned to face me. "...We are all in the same boat...no one wants us. We have nowhere to go...except back where we started, back in the monster prison," he grumbled bitterly. Monger smirked and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Well I wouldn't call it a "monster prison" anymore. I had some things changed for y'all," he said. The four of us exchanged glances before turning our focus to Monger.

"What do you mean?" Susan asked.

Monger strolled away from us, making us follow him out of the room. "Come along, and I'll show you," he told us. We all looked at each other, hoping the other had some idea of what the general was talking about. When we saw that we were just as clueless as the next, we decided to follow the general and find out ourselves...

...


	20. Chapter 19: Home Sweet Home

Chapter 19: Home Sweet Home

...

* * *

...

"I made a promise on giving y'all your freedom back...and I doubt any of you want to go back to living in those dark, cold cells I made most of you live in for fifty years," Monger said as he lead us down the long hallway. B.O.B. was the only one who raised his hand as a response to Monger's comment, which I assumed because he really didn't know what Monger was talking about. Monger continued.

"I had a feeling that you monsters would have no place to go...so I got the facility a "make-over" if you will. I hope it fits to how you like it," he said. I exchanged glances with Doc once we got to the end of the hallway.

"...But before we get to that, let me show you the meet up area," Monger said, pushing a button near him in the wall. The huge, Susan sized door opened up.

It was a huge room. It was like looking into a Susan sized dining room. It had a nice wooden table and a wooden bench-like seat that looked like those kind from restaurants. There were plants in huge pots and a window that looked out inside the huge room we were once held in.

Doc, Link, and B.O.B. climbed up the massive table. I tried flapping my wings to fly up onto the table, but it didnt work. Instead, it brought more pain to my broken body. Susan placed her huge hand down in front of me. "Here, I'll help you up," she said in a kind voice. Hesitant, I walked onto her hand. It felt squishy. I asked if it hurt her. She said no.

"You feel as though you weigh as much as a small rock," she commented. I felt my momentum and balance leave me once Susan began to lift me high up. I fell on all fours onto her palm. For a brief moment when I was high above, I felt like Hogarth from The Iron Giant when he made the huge robot pick him up. It was amazing. A bit scary too, but in a good way. Thrilling.

The moment left once Susan put me down on the table where the male monsters were standing. Then Susan walked over and sat down at the table. Monger was already on the table surface too after taking a quick flight trip on his jet pack. I gave myself a mental note to ask Monger for a jet pack for myself.

"This is the meet up place. If you guys want to hang out together, and where we get updates on any possible alien invasions." With that, a bunch of computers and screens came up, showing us places all around the world. Everyone else seemed estatic. I on the other hand had mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Monger smirked at the looks on our faces. "Since you guys did a great job in taking down that last alien, I thought you guys wouldn't mind being a part of a team, a "Monsters vs Aliens" idea if you will. Investigators of any unusual, paranormal, or any suspicious alien activity. The president said himself that he has passed the idea. So you guys are officially Protectors of the World.

Everyone was speechless. It took me a long minute to let all of this sink into my cranium. A protector of the world, a paranormal investigator. Monsters vs Aliens? I felt so overwhelmed by the very idea.

We all looked through the window to see what was down there.

Down below was a huge room, enough to fit a city inside, which was what was inside the said room. At first, I was very confused as I gazed down upon the place through the glass. The buildings were grey and white. Crisp and clean. They looked fake. That's when I realized that they were. The windows and doors looked like they didn't really work. They looked like models. Unpainted models of buildings for a miniature place, only...life sized.

Just then, we all heard a familiar roar, and soon after, one of the buildings was seen falling over. Rising from the heart of the fake city, was Insectosaurous. "Insecto!" cried Link happily as he came up to the window.

Insecto was already in the huge room and was already eating away at the buildings. Monger stepped up next to us near the window and gestured down to the huge room where Insecto and the city was.

"This is Insecto's place. Thought it would be nice to have him close by so you guys can visit him and he wont get lonely...Those buildings are the same material and is a replica of Tokyo," explained Monger as we looked out the window. "Thought it would be nice for the Bug Boy to have," Monger added. Link placed his hands against the glass, grinning from finned ear to finned ear.

"This is perfect for Insecto!" Link said happily.

I looked at the amazing New Tokyo, now being destroyed by Insecto. Insecto lifted his massive head up to where we were and gave us a happy roar. Link waved back to him, happy for his friend. "You enjoy those buildings, big guy," he said. Insecto nodded and gave another demented screech as he turned back to the building he was eating and continued munching away.

Monger called to us to follow along as he turned his jet pack back on. "Time to show you the rest of the place." With that, he took off from the table and flew across the room and back down to the floor. The male monsters got down from the table no problem. Susan offered her hand to me and I took another trip down off the giant table and down to the ground.

Monger showed us around the newly renovated facility. He told us thst we were free to do whatever we wanted, as long as we stayed by the rules and kept our side of the bargain of protecting the earth from alien invasions. I suddenly felt my stomach flip flop. It suddenly felt like a lot, asking for a couple monsters to protect the entire world whenever aliens from other planets decided to stop by Earth and take over.

I tried not thinking about it and focused on what Monger was showing us. He showed us the cafeteria where all the other scientists and caretakers of the facility ate. He said that since we were now part of the facility, and not prisoners, the cafeteria had to be upgraded, with more cooks, more state of the art ovens, toasters, stovetops etc, and a lot of food.

"Just ask for what you want and the cooks here will prepare it for you," Monger said. B.O.B. was thrilled at the mention of it. "Anything?" He asked excitedly. Monger nodded and gestured to the five chefs behind the stainless steel counter. "These are our top chefs. They can make you anything," he said. "Anything?" Asked B.O.B. again.

"Anything."

"Anything?!"

"Anything."

"Anyth-"

"B.O.B.! Stop," Link snapped in irritation.

Monger chuckled. "Let's move on, shall we?"

Next, he showed us "The hangout room" a place where we could all just relax and be together. The room was enormous with a couch big enough for Susan to sit in, and a normal size couch for me and the other monsters. There was a huge screen TV, bigger than a movie theatre screen TV. Monger told us that we had free access to any movie, TV show or game we desired.

"Movie Night!" Susan called out. The others whooped and cheered excitedly. I smiled excitedly and the heavy, nervous pit in my stomach seemed to slowly disappear.

Once we turned back, Monger lead us over to where our "cells" were. Link got a little apprehensive about having to stay in the cells again, but Monger calmed him down and explained himself.

"I am not gonna treat you guys like prisoners here, you guys are free, like I said..." He took a moment to take a breath before turning to where Susan's cell was. "...Here, let me show you instead," he said as he pushed the button on the side. The wall opened up and inside was Susan's room.

"Oh my gosh!" Susan was the first to express her emotions. We were stunned as well. It was the room any girl would ever want…not really me, but it was still cool.

Its walls were a nice pink and the bed was also pink, and bigger than any giant sized bed I have ever seen. You could literally fit a house on top of the bed and have the quilted covers be the front yard and the backyard. On the floor and near the bed, there were huge stuffed animals the size of baby whales. Susan also had her own nightstand with a huge lamp. What was even more stunning was that Susan's room was extended to where it even had its' own walk-in closet with clothes and accessories just for Susan to try on.

"It's amazing!" she shrieked with joy and jumped on her bed.

"If there is anything else you want added in your room, you can tell me," said Monger. He turned to us. "Same goes for the rest of you," he assured us. Link smirked. "I'll believe you, once I get to see my room," he said. Monger smirked back. "You'll see soon enough...next up, B.O.B.'s room," Monger announced as we left Susan in her room and walked down some more to the next room.

It was like a hallway or an apartment because all our rooms were next door to each other's.

We walked a little more before we stood in front of B.O.B.'s room. When Monger opened the wall up for B.O.B., the rest of us peeked in. My jaw dropped at the sight of B.O.B.'s room. Seriously, it was playground heaven for kids. If I were still a kid, I would have wanted B.O.B.'s room. It was so cool! It was like a kid's playground and a party store all rolled into one. Its walls were blue, and had a huge twisting slide, a whole bin of basketballs, kick balls, tennis balls, soccer balls, and any other sports ball you can imagine. There were colorful balloons, colorful streamers, and a couple of piñatas (with tons of candy) and all types of board games or other types of games in the back of the room. There were monkey bars, rings, twisty bars, every kind of thing you would see at a kids playground, but more insane. The floor felt gel like and there was even a hot dog cart in the corner.

"Oh Wow!" B.O.B. said excitedly, he couldn't stop smiling as he went into his room, gazing up at everything. " Is it my birthday!?" he asked Monger, turning to the general.

"Uh…sure," Monger said.

"This is the best day ever!" B.O.B. yelled excitedly and ran around his room playing with anything he could get his gel-like hands on. Link crossed his arms over his broad chest and chuckled a little. "I'm starting to want his room now," Link said smiling. Doc laughed as well. "Same. This is pretty crazy," he added.

"Well, you guys haven't even seen your rooms yet. It's time to show Doc his room now," said Monger.

Doc's room was equally as awesome as B.O.B.'s. It was like looking into Dr. Frankenstein's labratory, except more modern and advanced. There were tables of beakers, tubes, chemicals, and other science instruments. There were screens for researching on things or looking inside people's bodies. There were also microscopes, and a whole library on any kind of science (I bet there was even mad scientists books) and an operating table. His bed was in a dark corner of the room. The whole room was pretty much dimly lit.

Monger looked over to Doc's stunned expression on his face and laughed out loud. "Now I don't want to get any reports of you blowing up the facility or using the scientist's here as your guinea pigs," he warned.

"O…M…G!" was all we heard from Doc. He didn't seem to hear anythijng of what Monger said. All his attention was on his new lab.

He was in mad scientist heaven.

His eyes were wide in amazement and shock. He walked in his room. He scanned through the books and pulled a volume of Biology out.

"There is even a schute that brings you garbage any time you want," explained Monger as he pointed to a schute.

Next to it was a lever.

When Doc walked over to it, he pulled it down, and instantly garbage came rolling down. "I...I don't know what to say!" he finally said.

"You dont have to say anything Doc. Just think of it as a payment of apology and a thanks for taking care of the alien," Monger said to him. Doc smiled. Then as fast as lightning, he was in his new lab room. The mad scientist did an excited dance and turned to us. His eyes gleaming, even in the darkest part of the room. "This is so rad!" he beamed happily. We smiled back, happy for him. The door closed, and now it was just Monger, Link, and I.

"Now for The Missing Link," said Monger.

I have never seen Link so happy. Once we left Doc to his room, we looked inside the hybrids room. I looked up at him, while his eyes were on his room. His grin was wide, and his eyes were big and filled with pure excitement and happiness.

His room was like a gym with every single type of training equipment you could think of. Its walls were painted to look like the beaches of Florida. It had a real life Olympic pool that took up most of his room; it also had fish swimming in it! There were also weights of any size in the back of the room. It also had speakers for the radio and his bed was a waterbed, just the right size for him. Link crossed his arms and smiled.

"I admit it, I'm speechless," He said, trying to keep his cool, but I could hear his heart beating loudly in his chest and feel the excitement coming from him. It made me feel happy seeing him happy.

I was also pretty amazed at his room, even though I wasn't really into lifting weights and stuff. Truthfully, it kind of reminded me of P.E. Having to go into the gymnasium and do all those fitness exercises.

"Now for Bat's room," Monger announced, as we left Link with his room.

I turned my head to look at Link one last time. He was checking out the weights and lifting one of the heaviest ones from the rack over his head. I turned away as Monger and I walked down the hallway to my room, the last one at the end of the hallway. Monger stopped and gestured to the button on the wall.

"I'll let you push the button," he said.

Absentmindedly, I pushed the button.

I stared into my new room. My breath was taken away. It was my old room. My unmade bed, my posters, my shelves of books, even my action figures. "...How did you-"I started. "Classified" Monger interrupted me.

I didn't know what to say after that.

Everything was there. It was like I was back in my house. All my familiar things. I felt tears come to my eyes. I immediately missed my family. I cried, my shoulders trembling. I heard Monger come up next to me.

"It's only temporary," Monger told me. "Until we figure out what's going on and how to get your family's memory back...It's the best that I can do," he said softly. I nodded my head and wiped the rest of the tears away. "Thank you," I finally said. Monger nodded. "I hope it suffices," he said. I staredf at my room and nodded silently.

With that, he left me in my room. He waved goodbye to all of us as he activated his jet-pack and flew off. "Goodnight Monsters!" he shouted to us before disappearing through a secret opening in the wall and it closing behind him. The lights in the huge long room above us turned off, one by one till it was pitch black, except or the lights pouring out of each of our rooms. I heard Susan and the other monsters come out and look at each of the rooms.

Wearily, I came out and sat at the edge of my room. Everyone was so energetic and happy. I think I was the only one who felt homesick and sad. I was happy to at least have something that was from home, but...I wanted my normal life back. I couldn't stand being out of my element, away from what I was familiar with. I felt like a sword was going through my chest. The pain of knowing my family didn't know who I was. I felt so alone, so distant from everything. I wanted to be normal again.

"Hey, Batsy, you ok?" I heard Link ask. I looked up and noticed Link looking at me. I turned away and wiped the tears from my face. "Yeah," I replied. Link didn't really seem to notice that I wasn't and took a glance into my room.

"Huh, your room looks so...ordinary," he commented. I turned to look down at my fingers. "It's my old room," I explained. Link blinked in surprise. "Oh..." he said. My shoulders sagged a little. I suddenly didn't feel like socializing with the other monsters. I stood up and walked back into my room, my ears pressed down against the back of my head, and my wings being dragged carelessly across the wooden floor.

I pushed the button near me, letting the wall come down, and the darkness envelop me once again. I placed my sunglasses on the nightstand next to my bed. I laid down in my bed and pulled the covers up to my chin.

My bat ears picked up to everyone's footsteps and conversations till everyone finally went back to their new rooms. It was very late and we were all exhausted. Well, I was. I knew that for a fact. It was well past midnight and I haven't gotten a proper amount of sleep.

"Home Sweet Home!" I heard B.O.B. say from his room.

Home sweet home...the words didn't seem to fit with this place with me. I never wanted to come back here. I wanted to be in my real room, in my real house, with my family who loved me, and didn't scream in terror and didn't know who I was. More tears streaked down my face. I wiped them away and exhaled a shaky breath. It was my room. The blue walls, the shelves of books, my sketchbooks, the clothes on my floor and on my dresser...even my monster figurines.

I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to pretend that I really was back in my real room, in my real home...and pretending that I was my ordinary self again...

...

 **A/N: Thank you Syd for the nice comment :3 I'm glad you are liking my story so far. Also I'm glad you liked my MVA Valentine's one shot. :)**


	21. Chapter 20: Awkward Moments

Chapter 20: Awkward Moments

...

* * *

...

Sleep was rough the first ten minutes. So many thoughts swimming around in my head. My brain was awake, but the rest of my body wasn't.

Suddenly, just as I was beginning to drift off to sleep, I heard a couple knocks on my door. My ears perked up from the knocks. I checked my clock on the wall. 1:15am. I groaned softly and kicked my sheets away from my body. I was never going to get any sleep.

Exhausted, I walked over to the door, cursing softly to myself, and pressed the glowing red button. The wall opened up. Link stood on the other side of the doorway. My eyes widened in surprise and I straightened up. There was a dim light above us, so Link was able to somewhat see me fine. The tall hybrid rubbed the back of his head. His emotions were of guilt and pity.

Mixed feelings rushed through me like waves. For one thing, I was very happy to see Link wanting to talk to me; at the same time I was very nervous of saying something stupid to him, and was curious as to why he couldn't wait to tell me something and not wait till morning.

"Hey, you have a minute?" he asked. I instantly felt nervous, but nodded my head. I offered for him to come into my room. Link hesitated, then took a step in. I kept the door open, but turned on one of my lights, dimming it so Link's eyes could see in my room better. He gradually relaxed when he started looking around my room. His thoughts on telling me something seemed to drift away as he stared at all the things in my room. His eyes landed on my collection of monster figurines and went over to them. "Oh wow..." he said as he picked up one of them and examined it closer.

"I take it back...you have a pretty cool room," he said. I blushed and thanked him.

His eyes widened when he noticed the painting of the Creature I had done last year. "Woah! That looks awesome!" he said as he walked up to it. "Did you paint that?" he asked, turning to me and pointing. I couldn't help but to smile and nod my head. "Yeah...I'm a big fan of the Creature from the Black Lagoon," I said. Link's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" He asked.

I came up to where he was and showed him the Creature figure I had. Link smiled as he stared down at me. "Wow, I never thought you would be a big fan of the gill man," he admitted. I felt my face burn as I placed the items back down on my dresser. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and shifted nervously on my feet.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," I said in a bashful way.

Link examined the creature tapes. "...I've never watched them," he added softly. I blinked in surprise. "Really? Being practically the Creature yourself, you have never seen the movies?" I asked. Link shook his head, placing the tapes back in their place.

"Nope," he responded. I rubbed my arm awkwardly.

"Um...if you want, we could watch them together sometime...like a monster marathon?" I offered. Link didn't respond as he looked along my shelves. I fumbled with my fingers. "I uh...only have the first two...I uh...never liked the third one...uh...but we could maybe get it and...w-watch...it." My voice shook.

After I said that, an awkward silence filled the room. I was not one who liked awkward silence so I decided to quickly say something before it got even more awkward.

"So um...what was it that you wanted to tell me?" I decided to ask.

The hybrid sighed and his broad shoulders went down a little. His whole emotion changed in an instant, and I looked up at him, worried. He looked down at me with the same sad expression he had when he first came into my room.

"About last time...I'm sorry about what I said...and I'm sorry about your family forgetting who you are...that must have been really rough," he said, looking down at the ground. I nodded, rubbing my arm. The fish man continued.

"Losing the people you love close to you...I know how that feels," he muttered. He was quiet for a moment. I could see that he wanted to say something else, but was having a hard time spilling it out. I opened my mouth to ask if he was ok, then he spoke.

"Also...I... lied about not seeing the scientist," he finally admitted.

I looked up at him in surprise. What made him suddenly want to tell the truth?

Link rubbed the back of his head. "I was talking to Doc about it after you told us what you saw, and he told me to tell you..." he said. He sighed, looking very uncomfortable talking about this to me. "It took me off guard when I saw him. I...I really couldn't believe it myself...He seemed so unreal. He had a huge set of black wings jutting out from his back, as he was grabbing you...above the water. Then he seemed to vanish just like that," Link snapped his fingers, "-and he was gone...causing you to fall into the water," he said.

"Why didn't you tell the truth?" I asked. Link stared back at me. "I'm sure it was hard for you to believe when you saw the scientist turn into a black bird and fly away into the night," he pointed out. I had to admit. He had a point. The scientist was so unreal. Straight out of a science fiction or a fantasy novel; but it shouldn't be. I mean come on, I was unbelievable myself. I had bat features! I could scream and make walls crumble and glass shatter. I was an impossible specimen as well. The scientist and I were no different.

"Also, I didn't want Susan to think I was going crazy too," he added in a low voice. I must say, those words did hurt me, even to this day; but I was too young and lovestruck by seeing the hybrid in my room to let it phase me at that moment. Afterwards though, it stung a lot.

Link continued talking. "He could be another monster like us...could maybe be the same kind of monster you are," he guessed. I knew he was talking about my eyes. That was when I realized I wasn't wearing my sunglasses. I turned and grabbed them from the dresser. It wasn't bright in the room, but I felt more secure with them on. They were mostly my way of hiding my creepy eyes. I fumbled with my sunglasses before turning back to the fish hybrid and found him staring at my eyes. Studying them. I broke the gaze and looked away. The tips of my bat ears were growing hot.

"I...I can put my sunglasses back on if my...eyes creep you out," I said in a small voice. Link shook his head. "You don't have to. Your eyes don't creep me out...not anymore," he admitted.

I turned back to him and gazed into his eyes.

Link looked away and rubbed the back of his head. "Well...I should let you go back to sleep..." he said as he turned around and started walking out of my room. He was careful not to let his tail bump into any of my furniture in my room. I followed after him, somewhat wishing I could think up an excuse for him to stay, but I couldn't and I was too tired to think of anything.

"Um...Goodnight, Link," I found myself saying. Link turned, then gave me a half glance before giving a wave to me. "G'night, Batsy," he said.

I watched him leave till he was gone from my line of sight. My heart pounded loudly in my chest and the rushing of blood was heard in my ears. I really needed to work on my confidence when I talked to Link. I pressed the red button near me and the wall closed.

I felt my face burn again when I thought of Link in my room. The scene replayed in my head. Soon my eyes began to grow heavy. I placed my sunglasses back on the dresser, and climbed back into bed. Once my head hit the pillow I was dead asleep.

...

* * *

...

The next day, I woke up from a dream free sleep. No nightmares either. I slept hard. I looked over to my clock. It was close to ten. For a moment, I thought I was back home in my old room. That was until I pulled the covers away and saw I was still wearing the monster uniform I had on the last time I woke up in the monster prison.

Once I got out of bed, I found myself going back to the same old habits when I was a prisoner in the monster prison. I knew everything was different now, but I couldn't help but to go back to the same old habits. Thankfully I was at least surrounded by familiar objects.

I got dressed into my usual attire of black pants, black long sleeved shirt, grey short sleeved shirt with the fanged smiley face and the words 'I Don't Suck' written in drippy red letters; black and white sneakers and my fingerless black gloves. I placed my sunglasses on my face and headed out of my room and to the meet up room.

Once I got there, I looked all the way up to the huge table. It was only roughly thirty to thirty five feet up. I tried climbing the table leg. No luck. I tried climbing up the booth. Still no luck. Last, I tried flapping my wings. They moved as fast as wet pieces of paper.

That was when I noticed the sign to the left of me saying: Stairs, and an arrow pointing me in the direction of said stairs. I facepalmed then muttered myself to how stupid I was for not seeing the sign earlier and looking like a complete idiot.

I took the stairs that lead all the way around the huge seat for Susan, up to the huge counter top where the other table was. It kind of sucked that I had to take the stairs while the other monsters could just climb, or whatever B.O.B. does, all the way up to the top. If I could just use my wings...

I walked across the table to the smaller table. I tried lifting my wings up to keep from freezing from the cold table surface. I sat down at the table and pulled out a pencil and some paper from a compartment under the desk that I saw when we first came up here. I didn't see any of the other monsters up. Possibly still sleeping in. I didn't mind. I liked being alone to my thoughts, and drawing usually kept my mind occupied.

I was doodling random things. When I didn't like it, I would just crumple the piece of paper and throw it over my shoulder. It was now a big habit that stuck with me when I was a prisoner here and I was trying to come up with ideas on escape. On top of that, there were no recycling bins anywhere. I guess I would have to ask Monger for one up here.

A small pile of paper balls later, I found myself getting into the drawing mode. I was just drawing shapes at first, but then the shapes started to work together and before I knew it, I found myself doodling a picture of Link. I felt my face burn as I stared down at the picture, and immediately crumpled it up. I quickly placed it into my pocket so no one would find it and see it.

"Hi Bat!" A loud obnoxious voice said behind me.

I jumped when B.O.B. suddenly appeared next to me at the table with the pile of crumpled up paper balls in his arms. "Are you going to eat these?" he asked me, oblivious that he finally was able to scare me without me hearing him come up from behind.

"Um...no," I answered him, stiffening up. B.O.B., thankfully, didn't notice and happily gobbled up my wadded up failures and dissolved them instantly. I hesitated for a moment before pulling out the crumpled picture of Link and handing it to B.O.B. "Here, you can eat this one too," I told him. Instead of just eating it right away, the blue blob just took the paper ball from me and opened it.

"What's this?" he asked, peering down at it with his beach ball sized eye. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull as I quickly tried grabbing the picture away from him. "Don't look at it! Just eat it!" I told him, reaching up with my arms to grab it from him, but B.O.B. was too fast and just stretched his blue arm out of my reach.

"Hey! This picture looks like Link!" he said. I felt my cheeks burn. "N-no! it doesn't. J-Just give it back!" I stuttered. B.O.B. ignored me and continued looking at it. "Yes it does. See? You drew his fins, his teeth, his muscular chest-" "Give it!" I interrupted him. I jumped up from my seat and grabbed the end of the piece of paper, causing it to tear in half. I fell backwards and landed on my rear end. B.O.B. gasped when he held the end of the pic. I sighed and just sat there on the ground with the other half.

I crumpled the half up and showed it to B.O.B. "Destroy the evidence," I told him and tossed it to him. "This never happened," I said, half serious, but also just being overly-dramatic to get me out of being nervous and freaked out. B.O.B. digested the paper and smiled to me. "What never happened?" he asked me. I smirked.

"Good," I said.

With that, I got up and went back to the table and sat down again. Right as I picked up the pencil, B.O.B. came over to me with a sly grin on his face. "Do you have a crush on Link?" he asked. The very question caused me to quickly advert my eyes from the blob. "N-no," I answered, embarrassed.

"Oh, I thought you did," B.O.B. said, his grin fading away. Half turning my head, I gave the blob a side glance through my sunglasses. I hesitated on telling the blue monster my secret. Knowing B.O.B., he would most likely tell all the monsters my secret right when the words escaped my mouth. Instead, I just smiled and gave out a nervous laugh.

"Hehe... n-no. He calls me names and teases me," I answered nervously, feeling my heart beating fast and seeing my paper white skin turn a rosy pink. I don't know why I kept talking, but I did. "Besides...I'm too young for him, and even if I were the proper age...I doubt I would be his type," I said. Saying those words struck me hard in the heart. I wish I didn't say those things..but then, they were true. At least me being too young. I'm sure I wasn't his type either... I wasn't beautiful like Susan.

B.O.B. gave me a sympathetic look before patting me on the back between the area where my wings came out.

"Aw, don't say that, Bat. I'm sure Link would date you if you were old enough," B.O.B. said. I blushed and quickly moved my hands. "N-no no. I didn't mean it like that-" I started.

Just then, Link appeared, climbing up onto the table top from twenty feet away in front of us. He stretched his arms over his head then arched slightly over to his right. I watched his movements and sighed. A small smile forming on my face at the sight of the eight foot tall fish man.

My reverie was shattered when B.O.B. started shouting to Link.

"Hey Link! Would you date Bat if she-" B.O.B. started, but I quickly covered his mouth with my hands. "No B.O.B.! Shhh!" I shushed the blue gelatinous blob.

Link turned to us. One of his finned ears went up while the other one went down, making his perplexed face look even more perplexed. "What?" he asked. His fish tail flicked once behind him.

"Nothing," I responded, a little too loudly. Link was taken aback by my sudden response and turned away. "...Ok. I'm gonna be over here," he said, walking away. I sighed and released my hands from B.O.B.'s mouth. I instantly regretted touching B.O.B. because my hands were full of blue goo. I refrained from screaming in disgust and casually headed down the steps to the bathroom.

Before I left, I saw Link go over to the window to say hi to Insecto, who was just lifting his head to the window. Insecto looked a little tired. His huge eyes were half lidded, and his hair was matted. Link waved to him, smiling happily.

"Good morning, Furball! How you doing, bud? You have a nice sleep?" He asked the giant bug. Insecto yawned a soft demented roar that echoed in the huge room. Link smiled and placed his hand on the glass. "Yeah, at least it's better than how they treated us here before," he responded to the roar. Insecto roared again, a little louder this time, causing the table we stood on to tremble a little.

Link smirked and stretched his arms over his head. "Yeah I did! I slept great! For once. My room is nicer than when I was a prisoner here. I have my own set of new equipment!" He told his friend. Insecto gave off some short grunts and roars, causing Link to chuckle and lower his long arms down to his sides.

"Yeah I know. I promise I'm gonna get back into shape. I need to strengthen my body anyway since I nearly got my ass handed to me when we fought that alien."

Insecto roared, causing Link to put his hands up in defense.

"I said butt! I didn't say the 'a' word," he lied, but I couldn't help but to laugh from where I stood. I turned away as Link responded to Insecto again, and headed down the stairs, wishing once again I could just use my wings to fly down. As I was, I began to think about what Link said.

'Back into shape'...'strengthen my body'...That's what I needed to do, I thought as I descended down the stairs. If I wanted to fly, I needed to strengthen my wings. I smiled to myself as I got down off the steps and headed to the bathroom.

...

* * *

...

Later on in the day, I saw Link heading to his room. I took a deep breath, then jogged after the hybrid. My wings went up a little, catching air, then went back down when I slowed to a stop behind the fish man.

"Hey Link..." I started. Link turned around to face me. "What's up?" he asked. I took a step back and looked down at the floor. I nervously tucked some hair behind my right bat ear and shifted from one foot to the next.

"I um...I was wondering if...if you could, um...help me with...strengthening my wings? I-I want to see if I can fly with them...and you have equipment so..." I rambled on with my words. Link stopped me for a moment, placing his hand up.

"Hold on, Batsy. Are you saying that you want to work out with me?" he asked, putting his hand back down. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out, so I just nodded my head. Link hesitated on my response. He turned away for a moment before looking back at me. "Why don't you ask Monger for your own? Also I don't have wings, I have no experience in flying" he responded. I felt my face burn again. I looked down at my gloved hands.

"Well...I thought you could maybe...show me some exercises...since you have been doing this for a while...and...uh... I'm sure we will be fighting aliens again so I thought it would be better to gain strength and be more useful in fighting and being up in the skies," I said. I really wasn't sure if we were fighting aliens any time soon. I kind of hoped we weren't. The first time was out of the blue and scary.

Link still didn't seem convinced in what I was saying.

I painstakingly added that Susan might start noticing him if he was helping me with something, also catching glimpses if him working out. Link seemed to smile at that thought. Truthfully, my heart ached when I had said that.

Link thought for a moment before giving me a smirk and nodding his head. "All right, Bat Brains. I'll help strengthen you up...and as much as I _love saving your butt..."_ he said sarcastically and gave me a sly smile, which I admit I felt like swooning. "-I think it would be good to have another strong female monster on the team," he added.

With that, he turned and waved his hand for me to follow along. "Let's start now. Follow me, Belfy," he said. I stopped. "Belfy?" I asked. Link stopped and turned back to me. "Yeah, you know? Bats in the belfry?" he said. I rolled my eyes. "You need to work on your insulting bat pun names, Fishstick," I said, walking past him.

Link huffed. "At least I have more comebacks than just 'Fishstick' or 'Overgrown Sea-monkey,'" he threw back. I turned and faced him, while walking backwards. "Ok, if you insist...how about Mermaid? or maybe Fish n' Chips?" I smirked. I tripped over my own wings. Link laughed.

"You are such a dingbat," he laughed. With that, he came up to me and offered a hand. I quickly got up by myself and continued walking. I felt like such an idiot. My whole body was burning like it was on fire.

Link caught up with me and we both headed over to his room. The wall opened up and inside was, like how i saw it before: like looking into a gym. The place had every kind of work out equipment. There was a pool in the back with a diving board. I turned cherry red at all the posters of girls in bikinis. I didn't notice those there before. He must have asked for them this morning. Link didn't seem to notice my discomfort...and slight jealousy, as he walked over to an area and turned to me. He clapped his hands together.

"Ok. If you want to strengthen your wings, you are going to need to strengthen your whole body. Are you up for it?" he asked me. I nodded my head. Link smirked. "Ok. Remember. No backing out. If you really want to be able to fly, you need to do all the exercises I tell you to do, got it?" he asked. I nodded again.

Besides the idea of being able to be closer to Link...I really wanted to be able to fly. I mean, I have wings, why not see if they work? I have always wanted to fly, ever since I was little. I have been so afraid of myself and what I had become, I never thought of what I considered a burden to be a gift.

Link told me to do ten push-ups for starters. I was only able to do three before flopping down on my stomach. I admit. I was a little on the chubby side. I had a pooch, and my face was round. I did need to get into shape anyway. Link sighed after my failed push-ups attempt.

"This is going to take longer than I thought," he muttered softly to himself, but I heard it anyway.

...


	22. Chapter 21: Link's Bootcamp

Chapter 21: Link's Bootcamp

...

* * *

...

The days passed into weeks. I kept myself on a schedule in exercising. I exercised on nearly every training equipment Link owned. Link would sometimes overwork me; sometimes because he would forget I was tiny in comparison to him, but mostly on purpose, just to tease me. Usually we worked for a couple hours. At the end of it all, I was so worn out and tired, I'd fall fast asleep in my bed. I always felt the metallic taste in my mouth. I thought my mouth was starting to bleed.

During those couple of exhausting weeks, almost two months, there was no alien activity. Monger allowed us to go off on our own and do whatever we wanted. Susan found a local Drive-In where they played movies on a huge screen outside. There would be old movies that came out months ago and she would watch them from afar, out of sight from any people sitting in their cars

B.O.B. found a park in the nearby town where they held annual eating contests. Apparently it was summertime so there were a lot of parties and food events everywhere. B.O.B. would always come back with metals and trophies in his arms and saying he won all the eating contests. I suspected he scared the other contestants away, which lead him to being able to eat everything on the table; which doesnt matter to the gelatinous mass anyway.

Doc rarely went out to socialize. He mostly stayed inside his dark lab of a room and work on his gadgets and experiments from pieces of trash he collected from the trashcans around the facility.

When we weren't exercising, Link would hang out with Insecto. He would have conversations with Insecto and sit on his head. Sometimes they would play games inside Insecto's room. I would secretly watch them from above in the meeting room, keeping my presence out of sight from the glass. The two would play games where they were evil alien monsters from outer space, destroying the city.

Link liked climbing around the life size white buildings and sometimes mock King Kong. He would climb the tallest building, stand at the very top, thump his chest and roar. He was in the wrong city to play as King Kong, but I wasn't going to correct him and reveal I've been watching them play. Insecto liked playing as Godzilla, stomping around and roaring loudly. It was kind of cute, in a weird way.

On my own time I mostly read my books or draw in my sketchbooks. When I felt cooped up and needed to get out, I would go outside and try flying. Outside was hot and blinding during the day, so I would go out during the evenings when the sun was going down. The nights were cool and sometimes I was able to catch a glorious desert sunset. I took off my sunglasses when the sun shone its last ray of light, peeking just above the amethyst purple mountains before disappearing to the other side of the world.

I still wasn't strong enough to lift up and carry my weight. It was going to take a long time. I would mostly try running with my wings out, then glide down an area that gradually sloped downwards. Nothing too extreme yet. I wanted to gain confidence in myself before I did anything crazy.

Once, when I was walking around, exploring the outer areas around the secret base, I found a canyon. It was about forty to sixty feet straight down and twenty or so feet wide. The idea of flying through the canyon had crossed my mind once or twice, but the fear would grip me everytime. The idea of my wings suddenly getting tired, and me plummeting to my death.

Since then, I stayed away from the canyon and would try flying in a more safer area. Wings outstretched, flapping as hard as they could, me jumping up from rocks or small hills to catch air.

After almost an hour of attempting to fly one evening, I sat down on a rock to catch my breath. Just above my head, I heard the faint sound of flapping wings. Almost silent, a whisper in the dark, they flickered around.

Bats.

There must be a cave nearby, I thought to myself.

I watched as a hundred or so bats flapped around rapidly, chasing after bugs. Some got close, but would maneuver around me in a split second and be gone in a blink of an eye. It was such a magical moment. I could have sat there all night and watched them. Bats were such amazing creatures.

My bat ears flicked when a cool breeze came by. I turned my eyes down to my own bat wings. I lifted them up, inch by inch. My wings stretched till they were just above my head. The bats didn't seem bothered by them and continued flying around me. I hoped that one day, I would be able to fly like a bat. Then I could go wherever I wanted. Maybe visit my family...

I sighed, letting my wings go down, and drew my legs up to my chest, hugging them. Just then, I heard the huge metal doors of the facility open up from behind me. The base was disguised to look like an old hanger where they would store old world war planes or something, surrounded by weird red rock formations, which looked like tall jagged stalactites the height of mountains.

Susan came out. She called my monster name, then stopped when she saw me. "Oh, there you are. We assumed you had figured out the secret to flying," she joked as she crouched down next to me. "I came to say that it's dinnertime. The cooks prepared macaroni and cheese. If you don't hurry, B.O.B. is going to eat all of it," she said.

I nodded. "Ok, I'll be there soon," I said, then turned back to rest my head on my knees and watch the bats fly around. I could feel Susan watching me as she walked around me and sat down near me.

"You doing ok?" She asked. I shrugged. "I wish everything was back the way it was," I said truthfully. Susan sighed and nodded in agreement. "Same here." We were quiet for a while. "Well...it could have been worse. I could have married Derek and been forever unhappy." I turned my head to look up at her. She stared up at the stars.

"I feel that everything happens for a reason. You could see it all as a bad thing, but there are little things that make it worthwhile. If I never got hit by that meteorite, I would never have met you or the guys."

I turned away from her. I guess she did have a point. I couldn't just think that me turning into a monster was all bad. It had its benefits. I was very close to being able to fly. Also the monsters are very nice and seemed to accept me for what I have become. We were all in the same boat, so to speak, and it could have been worse. I could have been alone through the whole thing.

"I'm glad that I met you too, Susan," I said, turning my head to her. Susan smiled.

With that, Susan placed her hand down, palm facing up. I got up and walked across her hand before sitting down. I wrapped my arm around her huge thumb, to keep myself steady and not fall off. Once I was ready, the giantess picked me up and carried me back into the base.

...

* * *

The next day, I woke up from my alarm. I sighed to myself as I leaned over and tapped the top of the small clock, shaped to look like a tombstone with bats flying around it. I sat upright and yawned, stretching my arms and legs. After that, I got up out of bed and got myself ready for Link's Bootcamp.

I took a shower, got dressed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, ate cereal, then walked over to Link's room. Link opened the door for me after I knocked. He had the radio playing. He grinned mischievously down at me. "Hey, Batty Bat. Ready to get your butt kicked?" He asked.

"The real question is, are you ready to get yours kicked, Tuna Breath?" I threw back at him as I walked into the room. Link snorted. "I'll take your response to my question as a yes." I kept my ears down and my long bangs hiding my red face.

Since day one, I had seen a huge difference since I first started exercising with Link. I was more slim and built with toned arms and legs. My stomach didn't have much of a pooch anymore; and my face had lost some of its baby fat. I had also lost eight pounds.

Once we were in Link's room, Link crossed his scaly arms over his broad chest. "Ok...before we start, let me see how far you can lift your wings," he said leaning on one of his legs casually.

I straightened my back and began trying to control my wings. I have a hard time describing what it's like suddenly having wings.I guess it would be almost like...another set of arms and since you never used them before, they are very weak and flimsy...or maybe... It was like I had gone back to learning the basics on moving my arms and controlling them. Or maybe...learning to draw with your opposite hand. I dont know. If you ever grow wings on your back, you'll know what I suffered through.

I lifted my wings up. As I did, I heard a series of pops. My joints were cracking. Link heard them too and cringed from the sounds. I turned my back a little, causing my own back to pop and crack as well. Link cringed again, till finally holding up his hands.

"Ok ok, that's enough," he said. I lowered my wings. Link sighed and clapped his hands once in front of him. "Ok. Let's just try some basic stretches," he said. He sounded like he wanted to do something else today, but instantly changed his mind. I stretched my wings once more before getting ready.

...

An hour passed of warm ups, stretching and working my wings, which were basic up and down motions, little circles. Flattening them or stretching them big. Kind of what you would do for arm exercises. I took a fifteen minute break. I sat at the bench near a cooler filled with water bottles and cans of soft drinks. I was sweating up a storm. Link on the other hand, was barely showing any sweat. I guessed because he was part fish. I doubt fish sweat.

After the break, Link made me do pushups. The radio played some old 80's songs that I liked. Once I reached to ten push ups, I glanced over at Link. The fish hybrid stood fifteen feet away from me, a little to my left where the weight set was. He picked the heaviest set and lifted them up as if they weighed close to nothing. I stopped to watch him.

I hesitated. For the past couple of days, I had thought of trying to ask Link if he wanted to do a movie night...with me. Countless times I got too nervous or scared to ask him. I told myself today was the day. I would ask the fish man to a movie night. Not a date. No. It wasn't a date. Just two monsters, who are friends, hanging out together. That was all. No date here. I caught myself laughing nervously under my breath, then stopped. Link didn't seem to notice. I took a deep breath and let all the words flow out at once.

"Hey Link, you wanna watch a movie?" I asked him quickly. Link stopped lifting the weights. "What?" He asked. Link turned the radio down so he could hear me better. My voice must have been close to a whisper when I asked. I tried again, louder this time.

"Um...d-do you want to watch a movie...with m-m-me...tonight?" I stuttered.

Link was quiet for a moment. "Uh...I can't. I'm very tired." He said. He was half telling the truth. I could feel that he was a little worn out, but part of him wasn't interested in watching a movie with me.

I felt my shoulders sag. "Oh...ok." I said. My bat ears went down and pressed lightly against the back of my head. Crestfallen, I went back to doing push ups. Slower this time. It wasn't long before my ears perked up again. I heard something outside Link's room. I instantly knew who it was, also since the pool was tremoring like the scene from Jurassic Park.

I heard Susan's footsteps come up. She appeared in the doorway. "Hey guys. How's the exercising going?" She asked. I didn't respond. Instead, I got up, taking a break from push ups. Link had quickly picked up his weight and went back to lifting them.

"Hey, Susie. Doing great! Just doing my usual, lifting weights up to a thousand...eight hundred and ninety six...eight hundred and ninety seven...," he started counting. He was obviously lying. He had just started lifting them. Just showing off as usual to the prettiest monster here. Susan just smiled and nodded his head, then turned in my direction.

"Hey, Bat. I was wanting to ask you something," she said. I looked up to her, my ears lifting up a bit. "Yeah?" I asked her. She smiled a big smile. "I was hoping that we could have a girls night! A Slumber party!" She said excitedly. I felt the blood drain from my already pale face.

Link's finned ears perked up at the mention of a slumber party. He flashed his sharp tooth smile up at Susan. "Slumber party? I'm down for that," he said. Susan gave him a look. "Monster girls only, fish man. Also, I thought you said you were tired," she pointed out. My heart skipped a beat. She had been listening to our conversation.

Links smile instantly disappeared. The hybrid quickly turned away. Susan turned her ginormous head back to me. "So what do you say, Bat? We could watch movies and eat junk food, paint each others nails..." she started naming a lot of things for what I assumed you did at a girl's slumber party.

I had only been to one slumber party, but it didn't really go so well...for me. I hesitated on the offer, but Susan insisted we do one. I took a quick glance over to Link who was lifting his weights again. He noticed me looking and gave me a glare.

"Don't look at me, I'm not allowed in," he grumbled.

I turned away in embarrassment, turning back to the white haired woman. "Um...sure," I said halfheartedly. Susan clapped her hands excitedly. "Awesome! This is going to be so much fun!" I had a horrible feeling about it.

...


	23. Chapter 22: Slumber Party

...

Chapter 22: Slumber Party

* * *

...

Once the day was over, I dug into my closet for a sleeping bag. I didn't really consider Susan's Slumber party much of a party since it was just the two of us; But we were the only two girls in this monster facility, so I guess she could call it whatever she wanted.

I grabbed my pajamas from the floor and stuffed them into the forest green duffel bag, then went to grab my pillow from the other side of the bed. After, I went into the bathroom to grab my toothbrush, face soap, and hairbrush.

I had only been to one sleepover when I was eleven. My mom made me go because she was friends with the girl's mom. None of the girls at the party wanted to interact with me. I didn't blame them. They didnt know me, and I didnt know them. I tried, but they didnt like my choice in dark clothing. They all wore pink. I didnt have one stitch of pink on me. I wore big shirts and sweatpants with skulls on them. The girls wore ballerina dresses and Hanna Montana shirts. They all loved the same things. I just stayed far away as possible and read my books.

The worst part of it was when I got homesick and I wasn't able to stay the whole night. My mom had to come and pick me up at two in the morning. I heard the girls giggling in their sleeping bags behind my back when I left. I felt so embarrassed. After that, I was never "invited" to a Slumber party ever again.

Once I was done packing everything up, I pulled the one long strap over my shoulder and began heading over to Susan's place. To me, it didn't really feel like I was leaving anywhere to a sleepover.

Being at the base felt like an eternal sleepover.

I passed by Link's room. His door was closed so I couldn't see him. I could hear music playing from inside. Just by listening, I could almost see what he was doing. He was leaning against a wall, grumbling about something. I'm sure he was still upset by the whole thing still. My bat ears went down a little and I continued on.

Once I got to Susan's door, I knocked. I didnt have time to knock a third time when the door suddenly opened up. Susan towered over me with a big, excited smile on her face. She wore casual clothes. A pale yellow tank top and some blue jean shorts

"You made it! Great! Come on in," she said as she took a step aside to let me come in. I stepped over the threshold into her ginormous room. I felt like an ant in a mid twenties girl's room. I began to wonder what it would be like living in a world where I was big and everything was small. Must be hard, Susan seemed ok being big, unless she was hiding it.

I plopped my bag down on the floor. "Susan stopped me before placing her hand down in front of me. I placed my bag in the middle of her palm before hopping on as well. Susan picked me and my duffel bag up to the dresser next to her bed was. I jumped off and looked around in the giantess' environment.

"So what should we do first?" Susan asked me as she sat down cross legged on her bed. I shrugged in response. She thought for a moment. "You want to watch a movie? Eat some snacks?" She offered me a huge bowl of chips. My eyes widened at the gigantic bowl. The chips were normal size. The bowl on the other hand, was the size of a jacuzzi. I had a crazy urge to jump into the bowl of chips.

"Wow!" I said instead and dumped my hand into it, pulling up a handful of chips and letting them fall back into the bowl. Susan laughed. "If you think that's crazy, just look at my phone!" She said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and placed it on the dresser face up in front of me. It was the size of a ping pong table and flat as one if it had no legs. I tapped my foot on the on button. It came on. I laughed as I began jumping on the buttons.

After a while, I stopped jumping on Susan's phone and we ate the chips. Susan turned on her radio in her room to kill the awkward silence. The station played some songs I was familiar with. Most of them were love songs from the 80's. I blushed a little, thinking of Link. I wondered if he was listening to songs on his radio right now.

Susan broke my thoughts as she suggested a familiar game with me.

"Truth or Dare?" she asked. I shrugged. "Sure," I responded. Susan went first. Our first rounds of truth or dare were simple. The dares and truths were easy, nothing juicy or anything like that. Susan mostly asked questions instead of asking for truths.

She asked what my favorite color was. Where I went to school. What my favorite hobby was. What I wanted to be when I grew up. Things like that. I began to do the same thing. I found out that she had no siblings and was an only child, she took ballet when she was younger, and later on was a cheerleader and played tennis at her high school. I at first assumed she was the typical girly girl until she told me about her competative side in Halloween costumes.

"My family and I were the winners in every annual homemade Halloween costume contest in my hometown. It was so much fun. One year we dressed up as Gomez, Morticia, and Wednesday Addams." My eyebrows went up in surprise. I never thought Susan was into dressing up, let alone dressing up as creepy characters.

After fifteen minutes, I got a question in my head I wanted to ask Susan. It was my turn. I asked her, Truth or Dare. She chose truth. I took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Is it true...that you were eavesdropping on our conversation?" I asked her. Susan blinked in surprise. "What conversation?" She asked. I reminded her of the conversation me and Link were having before she came in and asked about the Slumber party.

"I wasn't eavesdropping on your guys' conversation. I wanted to come by and talk to you about a sleepover. I thought it would be fun for you, and maybe take your mind off being away from home and all," she added. I instantly felt bad for asking. Susan continued. "Plus, it gives us time for us girls to get to know each other, not have to deal with the boys," she laughed. "They are fun, but sometimes, they can get a bit annoying."

I gave a halfhearted laugh, feeling the familiar burn on my cheeks. After we were done laughing, I waited a couple seconds to ask her another question.

"Um...What did you hear from our conversation?"

"I heard you ask Link that you wanted to watch a movie with him, and he turned you down."

"Ok."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why were you asking?"

"Asking... who?"

"Asking me,"

"No reason."

Susan smiled a soft smile. "Boys can be so rude sometimes," she said. I laughed a nervous laugh. Susan lowered her head down a little to me and spoke in a quieter voice as if she were afraid that Link could possibly hear us from where we were. "Don't take it too hard. Link needs to learn some manners," she said.

I didn't know what to say so I just shrugged.

Susan smiled. "Ok. My turn," she said. "Truth or dare?" She asked me. "Truth," I responded. Susan took a moment to finally ask the question. "Is it true... you have a crush on someone?"

My hands began to sweat and my pale body turned pink. "Um..." I said. Susan got excited. "Who is he? she asked.

"No one you know," I lied. Susan titled her head a bit and smiled. I could feel my sweat beginning to soak through my shirt. I tried looking calm and unphased by Susan's question, but inside I felt like I was going to explode. My face felt like it was on fire and was going to melt off. Did she figure it out? Why was she asking that kind of question?

"What's his name?" Susan asked.

"His name is..." my eyes quickly glanced around the room from behind my sunglasses. I saw a poster, on the wall behind Susan, of a guy from a band. His first name was William. "Will...William..." I said, stumbling over the name. Susan gave me a confused look. "Will William?" She asked. I blushed

"N-no. Just Will," I lied again.

Susan seemed to buy it and asked me what he looked like. I made up what he looked like. The usual "tall, dark, and handsome." An avid reader like me. Wears glasses. I even added that he was part of a "poetry club" which Susan thought was the cutest. After that, the truth or dare game finally came to an awkward end.

After, we watched a movie while eating pizza on Susan's bed. Monger brought the pizza over for us. He said that they had a special pizza delivery boy that came to the base every week. I found that a little strange, and not a good idea since people would soon grow suspicious and figure out the location of this place. Wasn't this place supposed to be hidden and unknown to the outside world?

We watched one of Susan's favorite movies, Phantom of the Opera. I had never seen it, which surprised Susan since she said it was something I would be into. I didnt know what she meant by that at first. It was a romance movie. I was burning up a wildfire on my face. I could feel the sweat trickling down.

After when I watched it, I loved it. I then understood what Susan meant. It was a sort of monster movie. Susan knew I loved old monster movies; when I told her during Truth or Dare. In some cases I felt like that I related with the Phantom. Falling in love with someone, who loved someone else. The vicious love triangle. The formula in every monster movie. I guess I really was a monster...waiting for my demise.

Susan looked over at her night stand at the huge, pink, Hello Kitty digital alarm clock. It read 11:45. Her already huge eyes widened. "Oh dang, close to midnight," she announced.

Susan yawned and stretched her arms. "Guess we should call it a night," she yawned, looking really out of it. I agreed as I began to unroll my sleeping bag. Susan gently picked it up and placed it on the surface of her dresser.

After that, Susan offered to help me up from her huge bed to the dresser. I hesitated before deciding to try and fly up to it. It didn't look that far, and I wanted to keep practicing to fly. Susan gave me a worried look, but scooted aside on her bed to give me more running space to the dresser.

I got into a running position, then kicked off running. It was really difficult since the bed was soft and had some wrinkles in the blankets, causing me to slow down and almost trip. I had bad momentum. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it. I opened my wings and leaped when I was within range. My arms instinctively went up and down, while my legs under me, kicked the air. My wings on the other hand, stayed stiff and suspended over my head. I was over the gap from the bed to the dresser. I fell.

Susan gasped and quickly shot her hand under me. I fell on her hand. The fear gripped me. I shook, trembling on Susan's hand. Close to death. Susan gently brought me over to the dresser. "Maybe you should start small, and not where you could potentially get hurt," Susan offered. My face burned in embarrassment. I silently nodded.

I went into a private area to change into my pajamas, which was basically behind the Kleenex holder in the farthest corner of the dresser. Once I was done changing, I came out from behind the giant Kleenex. Susan had gone to change in her walk in closet. The door was closed.

When she came out, she was in a light pink shirt with a blue bird on the front, sleeping on a milky white crescent moon, and white short shorts. I wore a large baggy black shirt with Jack Skellington's face on the front and grey shorts.

Susan got into her bed. I got into my sleeping bag and laid my head down. I didnt take my sunglasses off. I was waiting till the whole room was mostly dark. I prayed that Susan didnt have any bright Disney Princess night light on. Even when I was human, I preferred my room to be pitch black.

"Goodnight, Bat," Susan said before turning out the huge lamp next to me. The click from it going out was unbearable to my ears.

"Goodnight." I said, after I got my hearing back. Instead of falling asleep, I stared up at the ceiling. I couldn't fall asleep at all.

...


	24. Chapter 23: Just a Nightmare

...

Chapter 23: Just a Nightmare

* * *

...

I must have fallen asleep because I remember my nightmare. The same haunting nightmare. The edge of the cliff. The gnarled tree. The ocean. The moon. Only this time, there was more coming into the picture

John was there. His scar glowing in the moonlight under his dark shades. Behind him, a bunch of other men in dark suits. They are coming towards me. I am standing at the edge, my back to the ocean. I take a step back. My moon white dress flowing in the wind. I look down. No. Not a dress. A hospital gown. "No...no," I find myself saying. John reaches out to me.

"It's ok...everything will be alright...just come back over here..." he said, gently motioning me back to him. I take another step back. I am afraid. One of the men comes up and points a gun at me. A net spiders out from it. Enveloping me. I scream as I fight it. The dark blur. I stumble backwards. I fall. The net falls from me. I fall...

I rise...

Bat!

I woke up immediately and sat bolt upright, gasping. I was soaked in my own sweat. I look up and find Susan staring down in my direction in fear. It was dark in the room, but I could see Susan fine.

"Are you ok? You were screaming in your sleep," she said, her eyes moving around. I blinked, at first confused as to why Susan was in my room, then remembered the slumber party. I rubbed the side of my face, getting rid of the numb feeling from sleeping on my side.

"I was?" I asked her. Susan nodded. "Screaming like a banshee," she confirmed.

"Did I break anything?"

"Just my lamp," she said, pointing to the direction of the shattered remains of what was once a giant lamp. The cotton-candy pink colored pottery was broken like eggshells. The light was shattered and sending off a couple blue sparks. I felt a pang of guilt inside me.

"I'm sorry."

"Were you having a nightmare?" She asked me. She didnt seem upset about the lamp at all. I turned to her. I couldn't remember if I had ever told her about my nightmares. I nodded. "Same one. Almost every night...but it seems to change slightly every time now," I told her. Susan nodded slowly.

"What is your dream about?" She asked.

I told her the usual one I had, and the slight changes from the one I had recently. Susan's nervous, concerned expression never changed. Everything I was telling her, terrified her. Her heartbeats were loud against my bat ears. After I was finished, Susan still wore a look of worry on her face in the darkness.

"You should tell Monger about these nightmares."

I silently shrugged. I dunno if it would really help. "They are just nightmares." I told her. Susan was silent for a while. Then she looked back over to me. "...It sounds like to me that your nightmares are memories. Pieces from before you became...a monster," she said. I looked down in my lap. That was a possibility. But it still didnt make any sense. The dreams kept changing. John wasnt in my dreams before, nor the scientist. It just felt that I was incorporating them into my dreams. It had to be something else. They were just nightmares.

With that, I got up from where I was sleeping, gathered up my things, and turned to Susan. "Thanks for the sleepover," I said to her. She gave me a soft smile and nodded. "Anytime," she said. With that, she offered me her hand. I took one step off the surface of the dresser and stood on Susan's giant hand. She gently lowered me down.

"I would suggest talking to Monger about them," Susan offered again. I didn't say anything. I pushed the button and walked out of Susan's room and towards my room.

Once I made it to my room, I gently tossed my duffel bag onto my bed, and fished out my clothes. Then I headed over to the shower. The shower was small. They built it in the door that would have went out to the hallway if I was still in my real house. It was kind of weird, having a shower in my room. I sometimes thought I was back in my room, only to find a shower to greet me and not my parents in the hallway.

It kind of reminded me of Monsters Inc. a little bit. Near the end, when Boo expects to open the closet door to find Sully on the other side, but instead finds her clothes and toys. Her whole closet back to normal. No more Kitty.

I placed my clothes on a chair and stripped my pajamas off before turning on the water and going in. Since my monster transformation, I had not looked down to see if there were any other changes. The water washed over my body. My pure, paper white body. I found it almost blinding, and irritating.

The light was off in the shower, but my body felt like it had a sort of glow of its own. It was possibly because it was so white. I had no idea why. Vampires were pale. I guess. My ears went back and acted like umbrellas for the back of my neck. The water hit the back of them, making that loud droning sound. Loud drumming sounds that filled my ears. Echoing through their cavernous fleshy tunnels My wings were wrapped around me, almost in a insecure way. The light brown fur on the edges was soaked. They trembled slightly.

After I was done, I got out, dried off, and put my clothes on. I had a new shirt I had to ruin because of my stupid wings. The sound of the back tearing made my heart hurt. Once the wings were through, I gave them a couple flaps before letting them rest. After that, I got out and walked to the area where we ate. The cafeteria.

I could already smell the delicious food before I was there. I walked in and found B.O.B already up and gobbling down his multiple trays of food. He saw me and his eye lit up in excitement. "Hey! Bat!" He waved. I waved back and walked over to the buffet. Most of the food was already eaten by B.O.B. so I had to wait till the chefs whipped up another batch of chocolate chip muffins and pancakes. I decided to just get what B.O.B. wasn't able to completely gobble down.

There were a couple strips of bacon at the bottom of the grey bin; as well as a small piece of wheat toast in a nearly empty basket. I grabbed them with silver tongs and placed them on my plate. There were an assortment of fruit untouched, so I helped myself to some apple slices, orange slices, grapes, and a banana. Once I felt that my plate had enough, I grabbed a small milk carton from the fridge, walked over to a table and sat alone.

As I was eating, I tried remembering the bits and pieces of my nightmare. The new additions to the nightmare puzzle: the hospital gown, the men in suits, John.

John was there.

"It's ok...everything will be alright...just come back over here..."

I shivered and stared down at my plate of food from my plate. What did it all mean? Why couldn't I figure any of it out? Should I tell Monger? I wasn't sure if it really mattered. It was just a nightmare...

"You gonna eat that?" asked B.O.B. from behind me. His blue hand came into view and pointed to my strips of bacon. I gave him a strip of bacon. He ate it in seconds and began asking if I was going to eat the apple slices. I pulled the plate away from him. "This is my breakfast, B.O.B., you know you can go get seconds," I said, pointing back to the breakfast bar. B.O.B.'s eyes widened.

"Oh! that's right! I totally forgot! Thanks for reminding me, Bat!" he laughed as the blue blob turned around and went back to the buffet. I turned back to my plate and went back to my thoughts. Pushing my food around on my plate with a fork.

"Didn't know you were a fruit bat," chuckled a voice passing by me. I turned and found the eight foot tall hybrid passing by my table. I turned back and stared down at my plate piled with fruit. I sighed and rolled my eyes. The puns. I couldn't think of any insults to throw back to Link so I just kept quiet and popped a grape in my mouth.

Maybe Susan was right. It had to be a memory from when I became a monster. John had something to do with it. That guy freaked me out. He knew something that I didn't. If I ever encountered him again, I was going to do everything in my power to make him talk. Everything that has been happening to me for the past month or so has been driving me crazy.

My thoughts were interrupted by Link walking by with his plate of food.

He sat down across from me and placed his tray down. It was piled high with fish and other types of seafood. He began to wolf his food down in front of me. I kept my eyes down and just ate my food quietly.

I started to think back to my nightmare and the scientist.

"-Hey! Earth to Batsy!" Called Link as he began to wave his hand in front of me. I jolted and looked up. "Huh?" I asked. Link lowered his hand back down. His plate was clean. No fish, except for some pieces of scales. "I was asking you if you want to exercise on your own? I promised Insecto that I would comb his fur since he doesn't let anyone else get near him except me," he said.

I felt my heart sink a little. "Um, yeah. That's fine," I said. Link picked up his plate and got up from the table. "Great, thanks, Fang," he called me. I gave him a look behind my sunglasses. "Fang?" I asked him, unimpressed. Link pointed to my one fang hanging out from my mouth. "Fang. One, since you only have one fang," he explained. I rolled my eyes.

"Why don't you just call me by my monster name? Or better yet, call me by my real name," I told him, but the hybrid was already leaving, placing his tray and plate with the others and leaving the cafeteria in a hurry. I sighed and slumped in my seat.

Before I could even think about eating again, the whole room started to flash red and a weird blaring sound went off. My ears went back in irritation. What the hell was going on? was there a fire? Suddenly, Monger's voice crackled over the speakers.

"Monsters! Meeting room! Alien sighting!" He shouted. I quickly got up and ran out to the Meeting room with the big table and where Insecto was. B.O.B. snaked around me and took off laughing excitedly down the huge, long gray hallway. I tried running faster, but I was still slow. My wings came out from behind me and I tried taking off. I flapped my wings. They flapped as fast as they could. I caught air for a moment before coming back down. Susan and Doc ran past me.

"Hey! You are getting better!" Susan said over me. Doc gave me a pat on the shoulder before scuttling away. I huffed and slowed my pace. It wasn't a race. I had to remind myself. Doesn't matter who gets there first.

I got there last. Susan helped me up to the surface of the counter. Once I was on the table, a bunch of computer screens and tracking devices were seen unfolding out from the table before my eyes. B.O.B., Doc and Link were all fifteen or so feet away from me, looking at the screens. Insecto roared from below where he was. Link went over to the glass window and waved to him.

"I'm sorry, Furball. Gonna have to wait till we get back. Maybe we can see if Monger will allow you to chew on any fallen buildings in the area," he said. Insecto roared his demented roar again. Speaking of Monger, the general himself came flying in on his jet pack and landed on the table.

"Monsters! we've got ourselves our first official alien mission!" We clapped and cheered. Monger continued. "Now! Let's see where our alien sighting is located." He pushed a button on the screen closest to him and immediately, the screen zeroed in on the location in the United States.

California.

Again.

In the almost same area as last time, only it was in the heart of a nearby city. We all exchanged glances. We were all thinking the same thing. Link cleared his throat. "I was hoping for Florida, preferably close to the beach," he said. "Florida is humid," I pointed out. Link gave me a look. "So? I'm gonna be in the waters most of the time anyway," he said back to me. He swished his tail before adding.

"Also, it's where all the cute girls go during the summer." I wanted to say something else, but felt my face flush and kept quiet. Instead, I turned away and looked back over to the screens. The red dot indicated the alien on the map in California. Close to my home yet again. I had a bad feeling about this one...

...


	25. Chapter 24: Flygirl

Chapter 24: Flygirl

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After a small lecture from Monger, we were all racing to one of the ugly green jumbo jet planes to get ready to take off. I sat down in a seat in the cargo hold and buckled up. Adjusting my sunglasses to make sure they were still on. Everyone sat on the opposite side. The jet began to ascend and we were off.

Link peered out through one of the small windows to see if he could see if Insecto was following behind us. Sure enough, he was there. Eyes dialated and slack jawed, the three hundred plus furry insect monster was stomping at his pace. His eyes set on the blinding lights, hanging from the strong cables of a helicopter. His stomps shook the ground. I saw rock formations tumble and crack from under his feet as he followed slowly behind.

Link smiled a small smile and seemed to sigh with relief before turning away from the window and walking across the cargo hold of the jet. I smiled inside my head, finding the caring side of Link really cute. His eyes were nice too. My face grew warm when Link's gaze turned to me and I quickly turned away. Susan and Doc started up a conversation. Link and B.O.B. joined in occasionally.

I stayed where I was and half listened as I stared out the window. Watching the hot desert landscape pass by. A bush here. A cactus there. Tons of sand and rocks. Some birds flew by. I imagined flying with them. I adjusted myself so my wings could stretch and didn't feel restricted. Soon enough, I began to grow tired from the hum of the jet engines and the warmth of the sunlight coming through the window. I had not gotten a lot of sleep, so I drifted off and slept through the whole plane ride.

B.O.B. shook me awake when we arrived in California. I jolted awake from a dream. Doc told him not to shake me so hard. Link laughed. B.O.B. told me that we had arrived at our destination. Feeling sluggish and out of sorts, I got to my feet and made my way out. I had a bit of jet lag and felt very groggy. Thankfully my sunglasses were still on my face as I came out into the sunlight.

We were on the outskirts of the city. The city was dotted with tall white and grey buildings, clustered close together. They reminded me of a bunch of untouched Jenga structures. They were in all sizes, gradually getting smaller towards the outer edges and turning into suburban houses. We were near some fields, some trees, and a lake. Everyone had already evacuated. Cars were left on the sides of roads. Bikes parked under trees. Everything was just dropped and left to be scorched by the summer sun.

"Where's the alien?" Asked B.O.B. We all looked around. Where was the alien? Monger took a look around for himself. "It was here a moment ago. We kept it away from the city as long as we could. Tried containing it over the fields. I'll ask if there's any updates on the alien." He pulled out a walkie- talkie and started talking into it. He turned his back to us for a moment. We waited patiently. Finally, Monger turned back around and looked at each of us.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, monsters. No one is responding. I think the alien has captured my men." My eyes widened behind my sunglasses.

"And the good news?" Asked B.O.B. Monger thought for a moment. "If y'all consider the other part of the news that you have to go find the alien and find my men in this general area-" he made a wide gesture with his arms where we were. "-then yeah, that's the good news."

The rest of us groaned.

"I suggest we split up. We can cover more ground," Susan offered. We all agreed. "How about we split up in pairs?" Link offered, looking up at Susan with a grin. Susan gave him a look. "Ok. You go with Bat, I'll go with Doc, and B.O.B. goes with Insecto," she said. Link's face paled, then he frowned and turned his head away and grumbled. "Nevermind."

With that, we all went our separate ways. I somewhat trailed behind Link, hoping he wouldn't mind me tagging along with him, but B.O.B. came up to me first and asked if I could be his partner.

"I don't understand Insecto like Link does. Could you be my partner instead?" asked B.O.B. I was about to tell him that we weren't doing the partners thing, but Link apparently had heard and decided it would be funny to play along.

"Sure, B.O.B.! We can trade partners!" He said as he gently pushed me towards the blue blob. B.O.B. sighed with relief. "Thanks, Link. No offense to Insecto. I just think it would be easier if I was paired up with Bat. We are like twins! She understands me and I understand her," he said, putting his giant blue arm around my shoulders. I gave Link the stink eye. Link just grinned mischievously. "None taken, B.O.B. and I can see what you mean. Can't tell you guys apart!"

The hybrid laughed as he took off towards the suburban side. B.O.B. removed his arm from me and pointed to a rock. "I want to check under this rock to see if the alien is there," he said and did so. I sighed and sat down on a discarded tractor and watched the blue blob look under every rock around us.

Thankfully it didn't take long to find the alien. Roughly ten minutes. Insecto found the alien first. Link came sprinting towards the rest of us on all fours. He came to a stop and breathed heavily. His hand was pressing against his back and he was doubled over, coughing and gasping. He looked like he ran a marathon, but I knew he didn't run far. He was very much out of shape.

"In...secto...found...the...alien," he wheezed. "City..." he added. We all took off towards the city. Insecto was already there, trying to keep it contained with his silk that was coming out of his nose. I wrinkled my own nose in disgust. It was kind of gross. The alien was wrapped up like a cocoon, we couldn't see what it looked like. Link came up next to Insecto and cheered. "Way to go, Insecto! You're the best!" He said. Insecto gave a happy roar of possible Thanks.

Suddenly, a series of snipping noises was heard coming from within the cocoon. Insecto took a step back when all of his silk he produced from his nose was sent exploding outwards in all directions.

The, what I'm guessing was the alien creature we needed to fight, was very strange looking. It floated in the middle of the air and was roughly close to being the size of a semi truck. Maybe bigger. It was more like a robot, since it was made out of some sort of shiny colored metal. Multiple arms unfolded out from under its shell, dome like body. It reminded me sort of a rolley-polley, but its shape changed when it turned to the right or the left. It had multiple glowing red round eyes. It was pretty creepy looking.

B.O.B. instantly gave away our spot and started waving at it. Doc tried stopping him, but it was too late. It turned and saw us. It gave off a strange beeping sound before advancing towards us.

"It's mine! I call first hit!" Link shouted as he came running towards it. The robot quickly rolled into a ball and spun in mid air. Link jumped onto it, but was immediately sent flying and smacking into a side of the building. Susan turned to B.O.B.

"B.O.B.! Try stopping it from spinning," she instructed. B.O.B. saluted to her. "Yessir!" He stuck himself to the metal robot ball and stretched his arms outward, grabbing hold of the parts of the building.

The robot stopped, but began to shift and move around. It sliced through the blue blob and floated higher above the buildings. Susan turned to me. "Bat! Your turn!" I took a deep breath and screamed at the robot. It got sent back and slammed into a building that was behind it. It caused a dent in the building. The building crumbled a little as debris came off, but still stood. The robot recovered. It had a good amount of dents in its shell. It floated just above the ground now. Its multiple red eyes focused on me. Then it seemed to change and had a sudden drive to come after me.

I panicked and ran the opposite direction. Susan came towards it and grabbed two of its arms. Doc came scuttling up to the giantess and began to climb her. "Keep it from getting away, Susan! I'm gonna try to play around with the wiring!" He yelled over the loud noise of the robot before squeezing in an open compartment. I stopped when I got close to a car and stood behind it. I watched as the robot over powered Susan, and suddenly started to jerk and twist in the air. Sparks flew out of the side for a moment. Seconds later, the alien robot unfolded an arm, reached inside itself, and pulled the bug headed scientist out.

The robot dropped Doctor Cockroach. Doc thankfully was caught by B.O.B. The robot turned. It saw me. Its eyes glowed very bright, and continued to follow me. I screamed at it again, causing its front to concave even more, but it continued towards me. It had to be a coincidence that it was following me. I took a couple steps to the side to see if it would continue down the street. Nope. It turned and was now looking over me like a creepy, possessed dark cloud. One of the arms reached out for me.

Before I could do anything, Link appeared with a two by four. "Batter up!" He yelled and swung at the stretched out metal arm. Part of it ripped off. The robot was taken back by the action. Sparks flew out of the ripped off end. The robot reared back and pulled its remaining arm into its body, before coming back with a brand new arm. Link got ready to swing again, but the arm grabbed his board before he could do any damage, and broke the board in half.

Insecto slammed into it and pinned it against another building. Insecto roared to Link. Link turned to me and grabbed my arm. "He says that its after you, we need to keep you away from it," he said. I gave Link a confused look. "Why? Why is it after me?" I asked in a raspy voice, but Link wouldn't answer and just pulled me along down the street, around cars and bikes. Insecto tried cocooning the alien robot, but the alien seemed to have learned the first time and sliced at Insecto's belly. Insecto roared in pain and stumbled backwards. Link heard the cry of pain and turned back around.

"Insecto!" he cried. The robot turned to us. Its multiple arms came out. I went in front of Link and got ready to scream. Susan appeared with a lamppost and drove it into the robot's side. The robot cried out and tried reaching for the post, but got slammed by Susan. It staggered in a daze, but continued to reach for me.

Doc came up next to us, as well as B.O.B. "He doesn't know when to quit," B.O.B. said. Doc pointed to me. "Its seems to be after Bat. We need to keep her away from it," Doc said. Link gave him a look. "That was what I have been doing," he threw back. The robot got up again, ripping the post out of its body. Susan turned to face the robot. "You three take Bat somewhere safe, I'll keep it distracted," she said. The three male monsters grabbed my arms and pulled me along down the street.

"I suggest we take her to the suburban area," said Doc. Link pulled my arm. "No! What if the robot finds her? then the whole suburban area will be destroyed. We can hide her in the subway," he said. The two argued, pulling me back and forth, until B.O.B. grabbed me, lifted me high over his head and took off towards a building. "Keep away!" he shouted, laughing.

"No, B.O.B.!" the two monsters cried as they chased after me. As B.O.B. made it to the building and began to go up along the wall, I started getting De Ja Vu. Doc climbed up the walls with ease. I was amazed and wondered if that was part of his cockroach abilities. Link made his way up by using the fire escape. He flipped and twisted his way up like a gymnastics pro.

Once we were up on the top of the balcony, B.O.B. set me down. "Wow, what a nice view," he said. I stayed away from the edge. We were very high up. The sun was burning bright and hot. I was sweating like crazy. Doc and Link made it up to the top as well. They stopped when they noticed something past us.

"Well...We found the missing men," Doc pointed out. over on the other side of the balcony, were four metallic pods with one half of the pod made of glass. In each pod was a soldier. They were unconscious. Doc went up to one of the pods and examined it. "Fascinating..." he muttered as he ran his hand across the pod.B.O.B., Link, and I came up and stood next to him. B.O.B. touched the pod as well and knocked on the pod gently.

"Hey! We found you! wake up!"

I came up to it as well and looked at the pod before me. Then, without really thinking, I ran my hand across it as well. Suddenly, the pod lit up and floated a couple inches before me. Everyone jumped back in surprise.

"What did you do?" Link asked.

"Nothing! I just touched it!" I said.

"Do it again! maybe it'll change colors! or make ice-cream!" B.O.B. said excitedly.

I hesitated.

B.O.B. tried touching the other pods, hoping for icecream, but nothing happened. Eventually, Link and Doc did the same, but nothing happened. Doc turned to me. "Touch this one," he instructed. I just placed my palm against the glass. The pod woke up. It glowed a yellow glow and hovered a couple inches off the ground, just like the other one did.

"Woah," Link said.

"Incredible. How are you doing that?" Doc asked. I shook my head. "I don't know. I was hoping you would know." I decided to touch the last two. Sure enough, they woke up exactly the same way. Doc thought for a moment before turning to me. "Are you thinking of anything when you touch them?" he asked. I shook my head. Doc pulled out a notepad and pencil and began writing things down in it. After a couple minutes, he turned to me again.

"Touch one of the pods again" he said.

I did, nothing happened.

"Try running your hand across it," he said.

I did. Nothing.

"Try thinking of it opening," he said.

I did. Nothing happened.

"Hm..." Doc rubbed his stubbled chin, thinking. B.O.B. tried opening the pod his own way. "Open Season!" he shouted at it. Link came up next to B.O.B. "It's Open Sesame, B.O.B., and I'm not waiting all day to get the guys out of these Body Snatchers," he said as he pulled a fist back and got ready to punch it. The pod instantly went red and zapped the hybrid, sending him flying backwards and landing on the other side of the balcony.

"Link! Are you ok?" I asked, running up to him. Link rubbed his head. "Ow..." he said, getting up. I offered a hand, but he ignored it and got up himself. "Stupid pod," he muttered. I turned back to the pods. There was something strange about those pods. I walked back up to the one that hurt Link and was still glowing red. I touched it. It went back to the color yellow. I tried thinking of saying the word open in my head. Nothing happened. "Open," I said out loud.

The pod opened. The unconscious soldier collapsed from the pod at my feet. He woke up and shifted on all fours. "What? Where am I?" he asked. He turned to look at me. He cried out and moved away from me in alarm. My eyes were wide behind my sunglasses. I turned back to the three male monsters, standing behind me. Their mouths were hanging open in total shock.

I did the same thing to the other three. Sure enough, they all opened and the soldiers all fell out and woke up. Doc and B.O.B. helped the men up. Link punched the balcony door down so they could safely make their way back down off the building and to safety. One of them already radioed Monger so he was coming to get them and hopefully us soon.

"I am so lost for words! That was amazing!" Doc said excitedly as he grabbed my hands and began examining them. I pulled my hands away. Doc wrote some notes down in his notepad. "Maybe it's your paper white skin! or maybe the hand you touched it with! which hand did you use?" he asked. "Left. I'm left handed," I said. "But I doubt it had to do with me using my left hand."

"Yeah, I used all my hands and nothing happened," B.O.B. said as he shifted his mass to produce five arms with four fat blue fingers. Link shook his head. "Guess we'll never know," he said. Suddenly, we heard a scream. We all turned and looked out across the damaged city. Susan got taken down by the alien. She was unconscious and leaning against a building. Her face was covered in cuts and bruises. Link bared his teeth. "You'll pay for that!" he shouted. The robot turned in our direction. Link's eyes widened. "Oh, crap," he said, realizing that he gave away our "hiding spot."

The alien advanced towards us. It looked like a ball of dented aluminum now than a weird rolley-polley. Once it was upon us, it looked down and noticed the empty pods. Its multiple red eyes glowed even brighter. Insecto came to our building and was about to attack, but then saw the growing eyes of the alien and stopped.

"Insecto!" Link cried out. Insecto's eyes went huge, just like they did when he followed the lights hanging from the helicopter. The alien kept three of its glowing red eyes on Insecto, while the rest were on us. I took a deep breath and screamed. The alien's shell dented and collapsed inward.

The robot thing swiped an arm at me. I wasn't able to get out of the way in time. The metal claw clamped around me, and pulled me towards it. Link and B.O.B. tried grabbing me, but two arms intersected them. The arm that held me began to slowly pull me toward its opening stomach. Without really thinking my plan all the way through, I screamed at the robot's wrist. My sonic scream worked. The metal workings of the wrist folded inward on itself, causing the robot's grip to loosen. I wriggled out of the loose metal fist. Another arm tried grabbing me, but instinct took over and I jumped. Gravity began to take hold and I felt my body beginning to fall.

"Bat!" My monster friends cried as they watched me fall.

I gasped in terror as I stared at Doc, B.O.B. and Link for a moment. I was ten feet away from the building. Soon I couldn't see them and gravity pulled me alongside the building. Falling. Falling. Wind rushed through my clothes and hair. The whole world was a blur. Like someone decided to pour water down a wet painted canvas. The ground was rushing up to meet me. I didn't see my life flashing before my eyes. If it did, it happened too fast. I was too scared to scream, also I couldn't since I had been using my sonic scream too much.

I was gonna die.

My short lived life coming to a sudden end. It was so terrifying. I didn't want to die. I feared death so much at that point. The ground came closer and closer.

Closer...

Suddenly, I felt a weird instinct kick in. It felt so familiar. I couldn't pinpoint where I felt it before at the moment since the ground was rushing up to me really fast.

My wings suddenly felt as though I've had them all my life. I felt connected to them. The fear of dying helped a lot too. I controlled my wings to flap. They flapped. One giant flap and instantly, I was going up, away from the ground, into the air.

The rush of warm air on my face. The blue sky. The wind in my hair and clothes. It felt so amazing. I looked down and found myself suspended above the buildings. I could feel my wings moving behind my back. My heart was beating fast inside my chest, feeling as though it was going to explode from the sudden thrill.

I was flying.

My monster friends saw me come back up and fly above them. Their eyes were wide with shock. Doc's jaw dropped open. B.O.B.'s mouth formed and uttered: "Woah." Susan had gained consciousness where she was and stared in shock at me. Insecto and the robot had stopped their staring contest and stood frozen where they stood between buildings in disbelief. Link was the only one who was smiling out of the group.

"Yeah! Way to go, Flygirl!" shouted Link happily to me. I felt my heart skip a beat as I glanced over to him on the building. He had a big smile on his face as he stared at me from where I was flying. His long arms were raised up over his head. He called me Flygirl. Not Bat Brains or Belfry or even Fang! He called me Flygirl. It wasn't an insulting nickname, it was a nice nickname.

I liked it...

"Bat! Look out!" Dr. Cockroach yelled.

Suddenly the alien robot thing lashed out one of his clawed arms. I quickly dodged out of the way and flew over the robotic creature. Its metal body scraped up against the buildings, making a horrible sound. Brick against metal. I flapped my wings and landed on another building. The robot turned and whipped all of its arms towards me. I jumped off the building and glided away. The sound of the building falling and crashing behind me rang in my ears and vibrated through my body. I flapped my wings to fly faster. I turned my head to look over my shoulder for a minute to see where the robot was.

I wasn't looking where I was flying and smacked into the side of a building. My ears were ringing for a moment to where I wasn't able to hear everything around me. Felt nice during that silence. I sometimes get tired of hearing the slightest heartbeat or the sound of a moths fluttering wings. After a while, you start to go crazy, wishing for the dead silence. Once my hearing came back, I flew around the structure, hoping to lose the alien robot.

I landed on a fire escape on the other side and panted heavily. So much excitement and adrenaline coursed through me. I felt so alive! A robot arm crashed through the building and appeared out of the wall a couple feet from me. I opened my wings and took off again. My flying wasn't so great, I couldn't fly straight and my wings were getting tired fast. I had to think how to stop the alien robot. My screams seemed to have done the trick, but I had already used up so many. I turned back for just a moment. The robot was so dented, it had some openings for me to easily fly through. It was risky, but I wanted to try.

I turned around and came towards the alien. My wings felt like they were on fire. I was in a lot of pain. I was not used to flying. I needed to rest, but I kept going. The robot came towards me. It's actions were a lot slower now since it was so damaged and broke through so many buildings. I landed on the robot and got ready to go into one of the damaged open holes. Once my hands touched the robot, it stopped.

I stopped and looked down at the robot. It stayed there, suspended in mid air. Its arms hovered above me in a striking position, but they didn't move. Baffled, I looked out the hole I was sticking out from. From where I was I could see the robot's eyes, they were glowing yellow. I looked down. I was possibly around one hundred feet up in the air. My heart was pounding so fast, I was afraid that it was going to explode. I felt so exhausted and worn out as I sat there on top of the damaged robot. The robot acted very much like the pods. I wondered if I could control it. I placed my hand on the busted metal and spoke out loud.

"Down," I said. Gravity took over and it fell like a ton of bricks. Panicking I quickly told it to stop. It stopped and went back to hovering. I held on to keep from falling. "Take me down slowly," I told it. The robot did as I told it and slowly descended down from the air, scraping against the sides of buildings before coming to a complete stop. The eyes flickered then went dead. The arms folded around itself and draped over shops and nearby structures.

I slid off the robot and sat down on a undamaged bench. I was so tired. So many questions swam through my brain. I had no idea what was going on, but I was so thrilled. I have never been this excited before. I took a couple deep breaths to slow my heart down. My whole body was shaking and sun burned. It was painful, but it felt good at the same time. I felt invincible.

Suddenly I heard a noise. I quickly got up and turned towards the direction of the noise. The sounds were footsteps. My heart stopped when the figure came into view.

John.

He smirked in delight. "Good afternoon," he said. I stared in disbelief. What was he doing here? He grinned and clapped his hands together before pointing at my wings. "Look at you! You can finally fly! This is wonderful...the process is going along very nicely. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to use your wings...that they were just a lifeless set of limbs," he said, staring at them. I controlled my wings to fold up and hide behind my back so he would stop staring at them.

He turned to the robot near him. "And you took down the robot...I'm very impressed," he said as he just stared at it.

I bared my one fang. "What are you doing here?" I asked in a worn out, raspy voice.

John smirked as he adjusted his sunglasses, turning back to me. He was wearing the same type of attire the first time I saw him. It was a really hot day, I had no idea why he wanted to be in a full three piece suit in the middle what I was guessing was around July or August.

"I came with Monger. Come to save the missing men," he said. His heart was beating fast. He was obviously lying.

"Stop lying. What are you really doing here? You here to kill me?" I asked. John laughed. "Oh no. No. I don't plan on killing you...if you go along with my plan like a good little experiment."

I tensed up. "Why do you keep calling me 'experiment?'" I asked. John smirked. "Because that's what you are. My 'monster experiment,'" he said. I felt as though he were teasing me. Making fun of me for not knowing.

"Don't call me that!" I snapped angrily. John chuckled, his shoulders going up and down. "Such a short tempered one. Even when you were in my care... What would you like me to call you then? Your "monster" name? What stupid pun name did they give you for their monster circus? Girl Bat? Fangora? Bloodula?"

God, his pun names were worse than the one they gave me. I didn't answer him. His smirk grew wider. I wanted to punch him in the face. "Leave me alone. I don't want to ever see you again," I snapped. John shook his head. "I'm afraid that won't be easy. Our stories are connected. I'm everywhere, watching you."

I called him a creepy bastard. He flashed a smile and cocked his head to the side. "There are worse things out there than me..." his voice trailed away, along with his smile and straightened up.

"Speaking of which...Have you encountered any strange beings lately?" He asked me. I clenched my teeth. "I don't know what you are talking about," I threw back at him. John sighed. I could imagine him rolling his eyes behind his dark shades.

"The figure who is talking to you. Don't trust him. He's feeding you lies."

"The scientist?" I asked.

John's eyebrows went up a little. "So that's what he's shape shifted himself as now," John muttered, but I was able to hear him clearly. I narrowed my eyes behind my sunglasses. "Why shouldn't I trust him? Who is he? Tell me!" I tried screaming, but my throat was near dead.

John didn't seem threatened and simply wiped some invisible dirt off the ends of his sleeves. "I can't tell you...If I told you, you'll tell Monger...and I would be in a shit load of trouble," he said.

I snorted. "Why should it matter? You are already a load of shit," I said. That pissed John off a lot. He pulled out a familiar looking gun from the inside of his black suit. "Care to repeat that, missy? or would you like me to do what I did to your family?" he threatened. I felt my fear grow stronger, but I swallowed it down and clenched my teeth. My fang grew unusually long.

"Would you like me to permanently paralyze you like I did to you last time? I'm sure my scream is more powerful," I threatened. John hesitated for a moment before putting the gun away. "I guess you having mush for a brain would be very useless to me. It was bad enough I had to use it when you jumped off that cliff," he said. I felt my heart skip a beat.

John gave me a look when he noticed my face. "...Do you remember?" he asked. I couldn't believe what I just heard. The cliff. He had to be talking about the same cliff from my nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare. It had happened. I was hoping that it didn't.

It was hard to tell John's expressions behind his sunglasses, but I could hear his heart beating fast. He grinned. "So, you remember a little...how interesting. I must have not correctly shot you with the mind erase gun,"

I finally spoke. "You were there. At the cliff. The scientist-" John interrupted me. "Yes, yes, I was there. You escaped, as well as "the scientist" you keep calling him." He seemed irritated.

Escaped. I had been running away from John; same with the scientist. He must have gotten caught since he was back at the facility. He was escaping again from John and his men, at the same time when we were escaping.

"What do you mean by escaped? And who is the scientist? Is he just like me?" I asked John. John gave me a side glance. "I'm not telling you any more...unless you want to come with me...Then I can tell you everything," he said, motioning his arm over to his side.

I made a nervous step backward. He noticed and extended his hand out to me. "Everything will be alright...just come over here..." My eyes widened behind my own sunglasses. His words caused my blood to run cold. The same words he said to me before.

Suddenly, the grin from John's face disappeared and was replaced with fear. He lowered his arm, just as a shadow came over me.

"Is this idiot causing you any trouble, Batty?" asked a familiar deep voice behind me. I turned my head and found Link standing right behind me. His eyes were narrowed, staring straight at John. His fins were flicked back and his muscles looked tense. I turned back to John and tried not to smile. I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest.

John took a step back. He straightened his black tie and cleared his throat. "I was just leaving," he said. I could feel Link's hot breath roll down the back of my shirt. "I don't see you walking," Link said in a low growl. John stumbled backwards a bit over some debris. He turned away, giving me one glance before disappearing behind a building.

With that, he was gone.

I exhaled.

"What did he say to you?" asked Link from behind me. I tensed up again and spun around. Link stared down at me. I stumbled over my words for a moment before finally forming a sentence. I told him all that happened between John and me. Link's tail swished once behind him.

"I don't trust either of them," he said, meaning John and the scientist. I nodded. John and the scientist didn't seem to trust one another, yet wanted me on their own side. They both seemed to know how I became a monster. Both of them were still not giving me all of the information. I wonder if they knew about my new power too...

Link turned his head to the alien robot near me. "Is it...?" his voice trialed off. I went up and placed my hand on it. It didnt move, light up or anything. "I think it's dead," I said. Link seemed to sigh with relief. "Good," we were quiet for a while till Link smirked and ruffled my hair. "You did good, Flygirl," he said. I laughed and shifted nervously, trying to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, but failed.

"Thanks," I was finally able to say. I was all giddy and light headed, I couldn't think straight.

Link gave the alien one last look before turning back to me. "Come on. Let's go back to the others...We need to tell Monger about your new power," he said. I nodded. Link stared at me for a moment. I blushed. "What?" I asked nervously. Link shook his head. "Nothing...I was just thinking," he said, before walking away on all fours.

I followed next to him.


	26. Chapter 25: Late Night

Chapter 25: Late Night

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* * *

...

That night, we celebrated with pizza and icecream for a job well done at taking care of the alien, and for me finally being able to fly. Everyone congratulated me and thanked me by shaking my hand and patting me on the back. My wings dragged along the cold ground. They were sore and ached a lot. I mostly sat down at a chair near the food, eating vanilla icecream. The cold feeling of the icecream felt nice for my damaged throat. I took a bunch of pain medications to keep the pain down.

Link and Doc told Monger about what happened on the balcony with the pods. Monger looked surprised and concerned at the same time. Link had to tell Monger for me about how I took the alien robot down since my throat was too sore to be able to talk. We hoped that he had some idea or any insight on what had happened. Unfortunately, Monger shook his head. He was as clueless as we were.

I was getting very tired and wanted to sleep. I left the party and made my way to my room. My shoulders burned bright, cherry red from the sun. I put some cream on my shoulders. Then I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow...

...

I slept for a long time. I had no idea how long. Felt like it had been days since when I woke up, I had to go to the bathroom super bad. When I was as done, I stood in front of the sink for a minute to gather my thoughts.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. I checked my sunburns. Fully healed. And there was no tan areas. I was still white as a swans feathers. I found it a bit weird. Usually when people were outside for too long, they tanned, not turn white. I sighed. Another curiosity I didn't know about myself. I stretched my arms over my head. I felt more awake. Tired of feeling cooped up, I wanted to go outside.

I walked out of my bathroom, grabbed my sunglasses before heading out. I opened the door that lead out to the huge room and looked out. I couldn't hear any sounds or movement. Everyone was out watching a movie or hanging at the local town. I snuck out of my room and up the multiple elevators to the outside. Once I got to the surface, the doors opened to the inside of the "abandoned hangers."

I walked outside and found myself in the middle of the desert. Far away from any nearby town. The closest town I think was an abandoned one, according to Susan one time. The sun was setting. I looked up at the hanger I came out from. A couple birds flew by. I lifted my wings. They didn't hurt as much. In one huge swoop, I went up, and flapped my wings some more till I made it to the top and sat down.

I sat on top of the huge hanger, looking out across the desert as the sun continued to set. The clouds were painted in oranges and yellows. I wasn't able to look long before my eyes started to hurt a lot, but it was still nice to be outside. A nice breeze blew by.

When the sunset's spectacular performance was over, the bats came out. I stood up from my spot, watching the bats flutter by. I lifted my wings, took a deep breath, and dived. The wind rushed past me as I fell. I felt my heart racing. Beating loudly in my chest. The blood rushing in my ears. I opened my wings to let them catch the wind. I went up. I flapped my wings and soared across the night skies. It was exhilarating. Incredible beyond words. It wasn't a dream, it was real.

I screamed in excitement, accidentally causing a small formation of rock to explode. I winced. I had to be more careful when I got excited.

Dipping and gliding, I made my way through the nearby canyon I was so scared of flying through, I went in with no fear. The bats flew around me, getting close, but then zipping away and chasing after their dinner. It felt so amazing. I did a barrel roll.

My wing scraped up against one of the rocks that jutted out. It hurt like hell. I quickly landed on a ledge to check the damage. I breathed through my clenched teeth. Bits of blood seeped out from the thin scratches. I guess I was done flying for tonight

I pressed my fingerless gloves hand against the wound for a moment to stop the bleeding. When it stopped hurting, I glided through the canyon, back to the hidden base. The moon hung above the desert, painting everything in silver.

It was late when I finally made it back to my room, after making a trip to the nurses office and taking some ointment to rub on my scratches. I felt awake. I decided to watch something. I went into my room. I kept the lights off since I could see in the room just fine. I pulled the VHS tape of The Creature from the Black Lagoon from the shelf. That one, and its' sequel were the only movies I owned. I know Monger gave us a bunch of movies to watch, but none were very interesting to me. Most were romantic comedies and I didn't care much for those.

I went to the boxy TV Monger got for me so I could play my VHS tapes. I had always wanted a TV in my room. It sat on my dresser from across my bed. I popped the tape in and sat down on the edge of my bed. The bright glow from the TV screen lit up the front part of my body as I watched it in the dark room. The feeling brought back memories when I would stay up late and watch the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I always watched it whenever I was upset, got sick, or around Halloween time. It was one of my top favorite movies to watch.

I remember staying up late with my family to watch it for the first time. It was on during October at eleven. Svengoolie would come on and he would introduce the monster movie for that night. He played all the classic monster movies, and some of the giant bug ones like Them and The Giant Mantis. I stayed up every weekend, watching each and every one.

When the Creature finally came on, I instantly loved him. He was the best monster out of the classic monsters. I loved his background story, the way he looked, and how he fell in love with the girl. The way when he first saw her, and swam under her as she swam above. It was so symbolic and poetic. I loved every bit of it.

I smiled when the Creature finally revealed himself in the water. His theme blaring loudly to strike fear into the audience. I was never scared. I was ten when I first saw him. My sister on the other hand, cried and had to be taken to bed. I stayed up all the way through the whole movie, sitting close to the TV screen, waiting impatiently for the commercials to hurry up with their pointless products and get back to the wonderful black and white fish man.

I found the tapes at a yard sale a couple years later. I bought them both for fifty cents and treasured them since. I sat there at the edge of my bed, my eyes stinging from the bright screen. I fished out my sunglasses and placed them on. I sighed and leaned back against my pillows, careful not to hurt my wings.

Soon I felt myself drifting off to sleep. The Creature kidnapped the girl and was taking her to his secret underwater cave before I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

As soon as I fell asleep, I dreamed my same dream... No. It's not a dream. It's a memory. Only this time, I was seeing what happened before the cliff. I am running through some plants and vegetation. I could smell the wet soil and feel the loose earth under my feet. The branches slap my face, and the thorns grab and pull on my patient's garb. I am bleeding. My back is aching. I hear a rustle next to me. It is the scientist. He is running next to me.

He doesn't talk to me or say anything. He flickers in different shapes, trying to keep his form. Suddenly I hear a loud sound, like a gunshot, and the scientist cry out in pain. He falls to the ground. I stop and turn to help him. He pushes me away.

"Run!" He yells to me.

I get up and run. The scientist yells again. I look back. One of the men in suits has the scientist pinned to the ground. More men approach through the foliage. I turn and keep running. I stop when I make it to the cliff. I turn back and find John and his men fifteen or so feet away. John tells me to come scientist stared at me across the way. The net is shot at me. A flash of light. I fall-

I woke up to a weird sound. I opened my eyes. The movie was over and the TV screen was glowing blue. I found myself under some of my books. I at first thought that an earthquake happened. I looked around my dark room. A bat fluttered around in my room. I stared at it for a moment. I didn't remember seeing a bat in my room before. It couldn't have followed me from outside. I would've heard it. It must have been the cause of knocking some of my books on my bed.

I watched the bat flutter about in my room for a while, trying to decide how to catch it without hurting it and taking it outside. Just as I was starting to lift up from my bed, the bat went straight down to the floor, then rose up into a tall dark figure. My eyes widened in horror.

It was the scientist.

Before I could react, the figure lunged at me, tightening his hand around my throat and pinning me down with his other hand and the rest of his body. I tried screaming, but all of my air was cut off.

"You idiot! How could you have done such a thing? I thought you were better than John! I thought you would have fought against him!" He snarled at me. I had no idea what he was talking about, and I wasn't able to answer. I thrashed and struggled. The scientist finally loosened his grip.

"I have no idea what you are talking about-" I gasped, coughing and breathing heavily. I tried hitting him, but he grabbed my arm before I could. "You are his puppet. Being controlled," he stated in anger.

"I am not!" I shouted. The scientists arm turned into a creepy dark tendril that wrapped around my neck, squeezing the air out of me again. He shushed me.

"If you scream, I'll make you wish you didn't," he snarled. Pain and fear shot through my body. The scientist stared at me with his yellow eyes. I stared back at him in the dim lighting. He was outlined I the blue glow from my TV screen. His glowing yellow eyes contrasted with it.

"I saw you talking to John at the city. You are on his side," he accused. I shook my head. My eyes wide with fear. The scientist seemed to calm down a bit, and decided to believe my silent answer.

"Fine...Let's go find John to confirm...and finally bring this whole thing to an end." he said. With that, he roughly pulled me off my bed and to my feet. He removed his tendril and turned it back into a regular arm and grab my arm.

We opened the door and walked out of my room, not bothering to close it. The scientist pulled me along with amazing strength I didnt know he would have. We passed by my friends' rooms. I felt so helpless. I wanted to scream for help so they could hear me, but that could've resulted in instant death.

We went into the elevator. The scientist pushed a button all the way at the bottom. I was amazed to see that even though we were already underground, the facility went even further underground.

When we got to the basement of the facility, the scientist shoved me through first and we continued our journey deeper I to the facility. We walked further along down a hallway. At the end was a huge door and a number padlock next to it. The scientist fumbled through his pockets. He pulled out a device and placed it onto the small padlock. The device figured out the code and unlocked the door for us.

We walked inside into a huge dark room. It looked like a lab of some sort. I could see jars of floating creatures of shelves. Multiple metal counters with alien looking weapons, body parts. Buckets of liquid. Racks of science instruments. A small library of biology books and other strange books about dissecting and science theories. At the very end of the room there was a lamp light on a desk. John stood poring over something on the desk. I couldn't see since his back was to us.

"John!" yelled the scientist. John lifted his head up and turned to us. His mouth opened slightly in surprise. "You...what are you doing here?" He asked. The scientist gripped my arm. And placed his other hand firmly around my neck.

"That's the same question I asked myself when I was brought to this horrible facility..." his form flickered and shifted a little. He narrowed his glowing yellow eyes, the only things that didn't seem to flicker on his body.

"It's time you start spilling, or I'm gonna make something else spill," the scientist threatened, his fingernails suddenly growing sharp, like talons that dug into my neck. I could feel my blood seeping out; my fear rising at every heart beat I could hear in the room...

...


	27. Chapter 26: Creation

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Chapter 26: Creation

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* * *

...

John stood there, staring at us from across the room. He looked at me, and then to the scientist. The scientist flickered in anger in multiple forms. It was hard to tell what was going on. His grip on my arm changed in each shift. It felt weird and made me nervous.

"Well?" The scientist asked impatiently. John slowly put his arms up as a sign of peace. "Hold on...let's all just calm down for a moment." The scientist slammed his fist against the counter next to us, causing me to yelp in fear. My breathing becoming quicker.

"I don't have time for your mind games, John! Tell me what you are planning! Or I might just start feeling like ripping your little puppet's limbs off! I know how much you care about your mindless puppet, John! Answer my question! Why did you make her destroy it!" He shouted.

John, with his hands still up, took a step forward. "Look, I know you are upset, but let me just say, I did not control her to destroy it. I have no control over her mind," he assured the scientist.

The scientist was quiet for a second. "Then how is it here? You told me that it was destroyed years ago! Why did you lie to me about that?" The scientist asked. John was quiet for a moment. Most likely trying to come up with a lie. His eyes were focused on something near the scientist. The scientist turned where John was looking. On the counter near him were the strange weapons.

The scientist grabbed one of the glowing weapons from the counter and pointed the end at my face. "Fine then. I'll just make you watch as I destroy your prized creation! Then kill you next!" He screamed. The scientist shoved the end of the gun into my cheek when John took several steps forward. Tears came to my eyes and I was shaking. I didn't want to die. I was so terrified. A hoarse scream came out from me when the scientist pulled the trigger.

Nothing. I blinked. Breathing heavily. I looked down at the gun. The once blue lights along the gun were now glowing yellow. The scientist looked down at the gun in surprise. "What?" He asked in confusion. We both turned to John when he started clapping.

"Yes! Excellent! It worked!" He laughed. We both stared at the man in the black suit and dark sunglasses in terror. We helped him with another one of his tests. The scientist gripped my arm tighter as he aimed the gun at John this time.

"What worked, human?!" He shouted. I blinked in shock. Human? John simply smirked. "I'm glad you asked, Subject one," John said. I had no idea what was going on. The scientist gritted his teeth angrily. Clearly peeved being called that. John looked over to me and smiled even more. His sunglasses catching the light from the red lights, giving him a pure evil look.

"I might as well bring light onto this conversation for Experiment Six here as well...No point in hiding now. You see...you are both part of my secret experiments. Years ago, when word got out that Monger was capturing monsters, I wanted to be part of it too. I was part of a secret project that I wont mention since the government got in big trouble...I'll just say that..."one" of the government conspiracy theories is true.

Anyway, after that flop, I tried joining Monger's team in finding monsters. We didn't see eye to eye in what to do with the monsters. So I decided to start my own project by making my own monsters."

I instantly felt sick to my stomach. I glanced up at the scientist, or whatever the hell he was. He just glared right at John. Waiting impatiently to get on with what had just occurred.

John continued. "That's where you come in Miss Bat. You were my sixth experiment...The first couple experiments...didn't go so well...but you, you were-" the scientist shot the weapon close to John's head. "Quit stalling! Get to the point already!" He shouted. John, unphased by the warning shot, gave the scientist a disappointed look

"Subject One-"

"My name isn't subject one you low life human!" He shouted. Then he said his name which was very hard to pronounce and long. It was like: Octobreyjfsdhszkxjdjsnsks, at least to me. I don't think any human could pronounce it without hurting their voice box.

John turned to me. "Octr-whatever, I'm sure you are now realizing... is an alien," he said. My jaw dropped slightly. The blood drained from my face. The alien scientist shifted in shape a little, and I was able to see his true form. It was horrifying. Something that I would think a Lovecraft creation would look like. John continued talking.

"The only way to make my monsters, was to use Subj-er...Octo here's blood. He's a shape-shifter, he can form into any shape. His special kind of blood was the key in which to make my monsters. You were my 'vampire' monster. I was trying to combine bat blood with Octo's blood and other elements to make you into a vampire. It didn't seem to work...or actually, we weren't able to see if it worked since both of you found a way to escape."

I felt like I was going to pass out right there. So much info all at once. I wasn't sure how to process any of it. It took forever for me to finally accept my monster form. Now I was finding out that I had alien DNA in me. Did that mean I was actually part alien, and not a monster? John continued explaining.

"When you showed progress, I knew this was a breakthrough in my work...the only thing I needed to test out...was if you having alien blood in you, would benefit as well. Octo here is a special kind of alien. His kind can shape-shift, speak multiple languages, and are very intelligent in tech. Their tech is special in that it only responds to his kind. Their tech reads their blood signature. So only their kind can use it. That's why you were able to wake up the pods, and the gun to not shoot you. The alien robot that attacked the city yesterday? I used Octo's friend to activate it to attack the city, to see if you could stop it and control it."

Octo blinked in confusion. "Friend? My friend died..." his voice faltered. John smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I meant to say, your dead friend. I cut off his hand to use to enter into the ship and turn it on." The scientist stared at John in total shock. John simply smiled his evil smile as he began to reach into his suit.

"Well...now you know...And now, you both can't leave...Can't have you guys going around telling everyone what I said...Pity I have to erase your minds again...but maybe it'll be easier to have you two as drooling, mindless idiots-" The alien scientist chucked me to the ground and lunged towards John.

"You bastard!" He screamed, turning into a weird mix between a tiger and a rhino and knocking John to the ground, then flickering back to his human scientist shape and squeezing John's neck.

"You stole my only way off this miserable planet! I thought my ship was gone forever! And you made your creation destroy it! I'm gonna kill you!" He screamed. John grinned, even though he was being strangled. I took this moment as an opportunity to escape.

I took off running towards the elevator. The alien tried grabbing me, but missed. "No! Get back here!" He shouted. John took his opportunity and socked the alien in the face. Octo's form shifted even more to where I could see more of his true form. He was pale in color, slightly blue-green, with a big head and weird alien antennae that stuck out from the sides of his head. The two fought while I made my escape.

Octo grabbed his gun and fired it at John. John dove behind his desk before grabbing the item that was on his desk. I wasn't able to see in time when one of the alien's shots ricocheted and almost hit me. I quickly left through the elevator and went back up.

Once I felt that I was far enough away from them, I slumped down in the corner against the cold smooth metal walls and started to cry. I was so scared. I had almost died...again. I was part alien. I was John's little science experiment. The scientist was an alien. It was too much. I couldn't handle it. Pain shot through my trembling body. Dark bruises were forming on my arms where the alien squeezed. My throat was raw and hurt so much, it was hard to swallow and breathe. I wanted all of this to be just one bad dream. I wanted to wake up.

The elevator slowed to a stop and opened its sliding double doors. I stumbled out along the hallway. There I saw my friends investigating my room. They turned when they heard me and came rushing towards me.

"Bat! Oh my goodness! What happened to you?" Doc asked, panicking as he looked me over. Susan placed a hand over her mouth. "Who did this to you?" She cried. I couldn't answer. I was sobbing and having a hard time breathing.

"Give her some air guys," Link said as he moved B.O.B. away, who was getting a little too close. The elevator doors dinged from across the way. They swung open and out stepped the scientist. He stumbled out, clutching his side. He was hurt badly. In quick movements, he shot the elevator panel with his gun to keep John from taking the elevator up as well. Then he turned back and found himself face to face with monsters.

He flickered into his true form. Everyone gasped in shock. "An alien!" said Doc, his big eyes even bigger than before. Link growled and bared his teeth. "Let me at him," he snarled. B.O.B. quickly stepped up to the alien. "Wait! We gotta be sure!" He turned back to the scientist, just as he went back to his scientist form.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"...Octobreyjfsdhszkxjdjsnsks," the scientist said his weird, complicated name, breathing heavily. He straightened up a little and looked down at his wound. It was starting to slowly heal itself. B.O.B. pointed to himself. "I'm Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate, but people call me B.O.B. for short. You should get a short name, its waaaaay easier...what was your name again?"

The scientist gave the blue blob a glare.

"Octobreyjfsdhszkxjdjsnsks!" He said again, irritated.

B.O.B. made a face. "Yeah, that's way too long. How about I call you October? That's what it sounded like you said that in the beginning of your name," the blue blob pointed out.

The alien, now I guess nicknamed October, glared at B.O.B. "I don't have time for this. Out of my way you gooey substance," he grumbled. B.O.B. sighed and shook his head. "B.O.B. Not "gooey substance." I see now that you have a hard time remembering names. I'm gonna have to help you with that."

Link broke the weird conversation and stepped in front of the scientist. "Enough with the formalities! Let's take down this alien!" He said as he punched his fist into his hand.

Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted from behind us. We hit the ground. I cried out in pain from the loud noise. It felt like a thousand bells were going off in my sensitive bat ears. It took me a while to wait for the pain to settle and to open my eyes.

My heart skipped a beat. My room was destroyed. Black and charred. Pages from my books fluttering to the ground. My personal belongings, reduced to ashes. Small yellow flames flickering in areas. I looked down at my feet. My creature tapes. I could tell from the rectangular shapes and the black remnants of the tape holder surrounding them. Tears sprang to my eyes. My safe haven. The only piece from my normal life.

Gone.

From the debris, from a huge hole in my floor of what was once my room, rose John. In his hands he had a huge two handed gun. It looked like a small cannon, but alien looking. It pulsed and glowed with weird tubes snaking along it. Steam billowed out from it. He took his own short cut to the top with the gun, since October destroyed the only elevator access to that horrible basement.

"Here's Johnny!" He laughed insanely. Surprisingly, his sunglasses were still on his face. He aimed his gun at us again and fired. "Duck!" screamed Susan, taking a dive. We all did the same. "Where?" B.O.B. asked looking around for the duck. October went down too then aimed his gun at John and fired. The blast nicked John in the shoulder. John screamed in pain, causing the stream from his gun to stop. The monsters quickly got up and charged towards John.

I got up slowly, still hurt from the last small battle. October came near me and handed me the gun. "Here, when I tell you to shoot, shoot." He said. Before I could ask where, October started running towards John, and in mid leap, he turned into a weird creature that looked like part shark, octopus, and lion.

I watched my friends and the alien attack John. Link and Doc worked together to try and get the gun from John, but he was too fast and tried blasting them. B.O.B. stretched his arm and wrapped it around the gun. John quickly pulled the trigger and blasted the blob's arm. B.O.B. cried out in surprise as his arm uncoiled and flopped to the ground.

Susan grabbed John and lifted him up in the air. She tried yanking the gun from his hands, but John pulled the trigger, causing the blast to almost hit her hand and her face. She dropped him, causing John to land near me. I aimed the gun at his face. John lifted his gun at me. Before any of us could shoot the other, October lunged at John. "Now!" yelled October to me.

John quickly turned and fired at October. One of October's tentacles was shot off. October cried out a weird sound and fell to the ground in pain. "Sh-shoot him!" the alien screamed from the ground. I fired my gun at John. John cried out when the blast hit him in the shoulder again, causing him to drop the big gun. His arm hung limp at his side. The monsters began to advance towards him. John had one last thing up his sleeve and pulled it out. It was the memory erase gun. I tried pulling the trigger on the gun in my hand again. It wouldn't shoot. John aimed the memory erase gun at my face. I dropped the alien gun I had in my hand and froze. John turned his head slightly to look at the monsters.

"Don't get near me! or I'll erase her brain till shes just a mindless vegetable!" John threatened. The monsters stopped dead in their tracks. B.O.B. gasped. "What did you say about my mom?!" he yelled angrily. Doc quickly stopped B.O.B. before he could think about going after John. John grinned, light flashed across the tinted glass of his sunglasses.

"You monsters have no idea what you are dealing with..." John gestured to me. "Bat here is my most important creation. She has just scratched the surface of what she is...and what she is capable of. I will not let you monsters, or Monger himself take this opportunity away from me...Don't even think about coming up with any bright ideas, or I'll literally wipe them from your brains," he threatened.

"But I don't have a brain," B.O.B. said. John came up to me and pressed the gun against my temple. "But she does..." Link's tail swished angrily as he took a step forward. John turned his head in the fish ape's direction, then aimed the gun at him. "Well, I guess it wont take much to wipe your brain completely, fish man."

John began to slowly squeeze the trigger. I looked over to Link. Link's eyes flickered from John, to me. His eyes were filled with worry and fear. There was nothing he could do. None of the monsters couldn't do anything to stop him. Tears came to my eyes as I stared back at Link. Link took a step back. John eased his finger off the trigger.

"That's a good fish. There's some smarts in there after all." John aimed the memory erase gun back at me, grabbed my arm and started to make me walk past the monsters, passing along my destroyed room.

"Come along, my creation...let's get out of this place..."

We didn't walk far when there was a loud shout. John shifted. I felt myself being pulled by Link from John's grasp from behind. John turned towards me and squeezed the trigger. Link wrapped his arms around me and turned to the side. Soon after was a loud blast, but not from the memory erase gun. Link and I fell to the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself. The other monsters braced themselves as well and huddled close to each other. B.O.B. turned into a blue wall and arched over all of us into a bubble to protect all of us from the blast.

I opened my eyes when I heard a loud scream. B.O.B. morphed back to his regular shape. I lifted my head up just as Link got up. He helped me up and we stared in horror. A dark figure stumbled before us. A huge chunk was missing from the side of his body. It was John. He got hit. His sunglasses were destroyed and fell in pieces from his face. He ducked his head down and turned away.

I looked over to the opposite side. Standing with the bazooka looking gun was October. He grew three arms to hold up the gun. One was I am assuming regrowing back. He was breathing heavily and flickering from his scientist shape. His yellow eyes glued to John. John on the other hand, wasn't looking all too good. He staggered, his head turned away from us. His hair a matted mess. His free hand clutched the area where his arm got sheered off. Blood spattered everywhere. His suit in tatters. I felt sick to my stomach at the grotesque scene.

John staggered into my room, breathing heavily and moaning in pain. He stumbled towards the huge hole in the middle of the floor he created. His body went slack and fell through the opened gap, and in a blink of an eye, he was gone.

We all surrounded the huge dark hole and peered down. It was too dark to see all the way down. Electrical wires sparked and crackled with electricity and energy from the sides of the crumbling, blasted tunnel. It lead straight back down to the creepy dark room.

"...Is he...?" B.O.B. began to ask, but his voice faltered. None of us were able to say anything. We moved away from the tunnel. Soon after, Monger and his trained, armed men were coming towards us and searching the area.

"What happened here?! We heard loud explosions! We came down as fast as we could but some of the communicators, and doors weren't working. We had to manually hack into the security and get the doors to open," Monger explained.

Susan and the others explained their point of view of the whole thing. They told Monger that the weird scientist I kept seeing was an alien and John nearly killed us, but October, the name we were giving the alien, saved us by shooting John and causing him to fall down the huge hole in my destroyed room. Monger ordered a couple of his troops to go down below and search the area to see if John's body was down there. Afterwards, everyone wanted to hear my side of the story.

I took a deep shaky breath and told them everything what had happened. The scientist taking me down to see John, and John revealing everything about his plans and me. "...I...John experimented on me...using October's blood. I have alien DNA...that's why I was able to wake up the pods...and control the alien-er...October's ship." Everyone stared at me in shock.

"So...does that make Bat an alien?" asked B.O.B.

Doc gave B.O.B. a look. "No, B.O.B. Susan has Quantonium, alien substance, in her body. It doesn't make her an alien," he pointed out. Susan agreed. I wasn't so sure. I felt like it was a completely different situation. I moved away from everyone else and looked upon the damage of my room. Minutes later, the troop Monger had sent down, came back empty handed.

"We didn't find John, sir," one of them reported. The monsters and I exchanged worried glances. Monger's grey eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Are you sure?" he asked. The troops nodded in unison. Monger, Doc, B.O.B., Link and I all made our way down to the creepy room. I at first didn't want to go, but Monger insisted that I come down with them.

Once we made it to the room, Monger flicked his flashlight on, but kept it pointed down and away from me. I looked around in the dim darkness and felt the blood drain from my face. John had disappeared. Everything was gone. Jars were smashed, papers were burned to ashes, the alien guns were destroyed. He covered his tracks and the evidence. There was nothing, except my word against him. Now he was gone...

We came back up and told Susan what we saw. John really was gone. There was no evidence of him being down there. The only thing we had was my word and October's word-

"Where's October?" Asked B.O.B.

I looked around. During the whole process, I totally forgot about the scientist-er...he wasn't really a scientist anymore. He was an enemy to us monsters...but, he helped us take down John. Was he really the bad guy? Were all the aliens the enemy? October was just like me. An experiment, held against his own will.

I looked around before finally giving up.

October was gone as well.

...


	28. Chapter 27: Aftermath

...Chapter 27: Aftermath

...

* * *

...

Since my room was destroyed, I had to sleep the rest of the night on the couch in the hangout room. I didn't get a lot of sleep, but stayed there, curled up in a ball. My eyes were red from crying from the trauma of multiple near deaths, shocking truths, and losing all of my close, personal belongings all in one night. I stayed there all the way into the late afternoon. No one bothered me, and just left me alone.

I would sometimes hear them outside the room, talking about me. B.O.B. wanted to go in and see how I was doing. Doc would tell him to give me space, and that I had a really rough night. Link, of all monsters, was the one who finally came in to see me. I didnt move or do anything when he appeared in front of me.

"Hey..." he said softly. I blinked my tired red eyes and gave him a silent nod. My wings were wrapped around me like a blanket. Link rubbed the side of his arm. "How are you feeling?" He asked. I didn't respond. I looked away from him.

Link's finned ears went down, knowing that there was nothing he could say to make me feel better. "I...I'm sorry about what happened to your room," he said. I kept my eyes down on the ground. Not saying anything. Link continued. "I heard Monger is working at salvaging your room."

I looked up at Link. I didn't know that. Link noticed me look back at him and nodded. "Yeah, he has some people helping to get your room back together. Replacing a bunch of items." My ears slowly went back down again. Replacing. Meaning he was only getting the items that could be replaced. My sketchbooks filled with my drawings, my handmade stuffed animals, my creature tapes. Those were not replaceable. There were no stores that magically sold my drawings, or my creations I made with my own hands...and VHS tapes were not a thing anymore.

"Was Monger able to salvage any of your things?" I heard Link ask. I shook my head. Still not answering. Tears sprang from my eyes.

"Oh," was all Link said.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. I got up from the couch and started to head out of the room. I half expected Link to say something, but he didn't. I walked out and left Link in the hangout room alone.

...

* * *

...

The next couple days dragged on slowly. I didn't talk to any of the monsters. I stayed in the back of the cafeteria, eating alone. I didn't really feel like I was part of their group. After I told them about being one of John's horrible experiments, I felt so much more alone and different in the world. I wasn't a teenage monster. I was a freak. Part alien. An experiment that wasn't supposed to be alive or exist. I had felt accepted being part of the group with the other monsters...Now, I felt like the black sheep.

B.O.B. tried coming over and cheering me up with a couple bad puns. "What's the scariest plant in the world?" he asked me. After a couple seconds of not answering or guessing, he blurted out: "BamBOO!"

I gave B.O.B. a weak smile, but it immediately faded and I went back to looking down at my untouched peas and steak. After hearing never-ending puns from the blob, I gave him my food and left the cafeteria and went back to the hangout room. I could feel everyone's eyes as they watched me leave. I felt bad for isolating myself from them, but I just didn't feel like socializing. I needed time to recoup from everything.

I had a sleepless night, just like the last couple of nights. In one of my nightmares, John was back and he had me strapped down to an operating table. He was leaning over me, cutting up my limbs and sewing October's limbs on me instead. In another nightmare, I am bleeding green blood from huge gashes and cuts from my body. Each nightmare caused me to wake up screaming.

Bags began to form under my red eyes. I hid it all behind my sunglasses. After a while, I started not wearing my sunglasses, reminding me too much of John, and just staying in the hangout room, turning off all the lights and just staying in the darkness.

The days wore on and my nightmares became less of a problem. Susan tried talking to me, being like my therapist and helping me through it. Doc gave me a couple things he said would help me sleep. I didn't use them, afraid that they might explode on me. B.O.B. gave me his favorite red ball to keep me occupied. Link gave me a couple tips on how to deal with my nightmares.

"You doing better?" The fishman asked when I started leaving. I turned and gave him a shrug. I didn't really know how I felt. Even before I became a monster, my life was rough. My parents fought everyday, I wasn't doing well in school. I got bullied by kids. It just felt that the whole world hated me for no reason. I didn't really know what answer to give to Link as I stared at him.

He was one of the few things that made my life tolerable to live in. He was one of the reasons why I was happy that I became a monster.

"Could have been worse... I guess" I just said to the fish man. With that, I left. I stopped just for a moment to look at my room. Criss crossing the whole thing was yellow caution tape, and a sign that said: Keep Out. I sighed, my shoulders sagging. My wings drooped to the cold floor and I let them drag the rest of the way to the hangout room, a.k.a. my room...

...

* * *

...

For some weird reason, Monger decided to tell the monsters when my birthday was, which was the next day. When I got up the next morning to go to the cafeteria, the monsters were already waiting for me. I nearly had a heart attack and nearly lost my hearing when everyone jumped out and yelled 'surprise.'

Susan came from around the corner since she was too big to fit in the cafeteria. She held a big wrapped up present almost the size of her fist.

"Happy Birthday, Bat," said Susan. I stared at everyone in shock. I was quiet for a while, then blinked in confusion. My ears swiveling everywhere to each sound in the room.

"It's not my birthday," I pointed out. B.O.B. came up to me. "Of course it is, Bat." I gave B.O.B. a look. "I think I know when my birthday is, B.O.B." The blue blob cocked his head like a confused puppy. "Monger told us your birthday was today! I got you a present!" He said, revealing a popped balloon.

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. I spotted a calendar and went up to it. Sure enough. There it was. "I'll be damned," I muttered. I just turned seventeen. I had completely forgotten the days. Ever since I was a prisoner, I had lost track of any way of knowing the time or the day. I was so far behind and lost. I felt my body beginning to grow warm. I looked down at my hands and saw that they were turning a shade of light pink.

"You guys don't have to do this," I said, turning back to them, feeling immediately embarrassed and insecure. I wasn't really one for parties and being the center of attention. Especially now. Doc came scuttling up and stopped in front of me.

"Nonsense, my dear! You have gone through a lot of rough times. You don't deserve that. We all thought that you needed something nice to happen to you for a change," Doc said.

I hesitated, turning my head away from them. "That's really nice of you guys...really...but...I just..." I didn't know how to say it. I sighed, my shoulders sagging. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and found B.O.B. staring down at me.

"We are your friends, Bat. We care about you...also I can't really return this gift I got you so..." his voice faded as he lifted the popped balloon. I couldn't help but to laugh at his joke...unless he was being serious; then gave the blue mass a hug.

"Thanks B.O.B.," I said. The blue blob grinned and hugged me back.

We all sat in the living room area. I opened presents while my friends ate cake. Doc ate our plastic plates which still had some frosting and sprinkles stuck to them. Music played from the speakers. We were laughing and talking. I enjoyed every moment. The presents were nice. Doc gave me an invention of his own creation. It was a little mechanical bat that fluttered around the room. It's eyes glowed red and had little metal fangs.

"I even built a little charging station for it that looks like a little bat house!" The mad scientist cockroach said as he pulled out a rectangular looking box and pressed a button on the side. The metal bat immediately came back and landed inside the bat house. The red eyes blinked on and off from inside the bat house.

He gave the present to me. I smiled and thanked him.

Last but not least was Link. He approached up to me at the couch I was sitting in. He had his arms behind his back. "Close your eyes," he instructed me. I gave him a suspicious look, but did so. "Hold out your hands," he told me. I did. He gently placed something cool and what felt to be plastic in my hands. I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands. Right there in my palms, was A DVD copy of the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe it. My heart pounded heavily as tears came to my eyes. My hands trembled.

Link started to casually say how he asked Monger to get him all three movies on DVD so he could surprise me on my birthday. I was so touched and overwhelmed, I jumped up and hugged Link right there. Link stopped talking and was taken aback by my sudden action. His arms were up in a surprise way where he didn't know what to do. His heart was pounding loudly in my ears. I was so close to him. My face burned in embarrassment and I quickly pulled away.

"S-sorry," I stuttered in a shy, quiet voice. Link shrugged it off and tried to look unphased by it. "Happy Birthday, Bat Brains," he said before turning away. "Thank you," I said to him. Without turning he gave me a wave as if to say, 'You're Welcome.'

"We should watch them sometime," I added quickly. He stopped and turned. A smile formed on his face.

"Sure."

I smiled happily. "Really?" I asked. Link nodded.

"Of course."

Then he left. I smiled like an idiot right there.

Soon after Link left, everyone else started to head off as well. We all spent the whole day together. Enjoying each other's company. During the whole thing, I forgot that it was my birthday and just enjoyed hanging with my friends. I started to head to the hangout room when Monger stopped me.

"Hold on, Bat. I have something I need to show you."

He escorted me down the huge hallway of everyone's room. Finally, we reached the end. My room. Mongers stopped and nodded to the button. I was instantly getting de ja vu. This all felt exactly like the time when Monger told us that we were all free and he was showing us our new rooms.

"Heh, feels like it was just yesterday," Monger said, getting the same de ja vu feel. I gave him a small nervous smile and nodded.

I reached up and pressed the button.

My room was mostly bare. There was a bed with a simple blue cover over it. The wooden dressers were different, and placed in a different way. Books lined my shelves, some I had already read, some I never heard of before. A fresh stack of blank sketchbooks sat on a swivel chair at a desk with a computer on it. I never had a computer in my room before. I went into my room and rifled through the sketchbooks, looking at all the blank pages that could have been filled with my drawings.

Everything of mine was gone.

"We were able to salvage some books, sketchbooks, and clothes, but everything else was charred to nothingness...I'm sorry," Monger said. Two tears came down from each side of my face. I wiped them away and sniffed. "It's ok...Thank you."

I heard Monger begin to leave, then he stopped and turned back around. "Oh...one more thing...I was able to save one thing." I turned around as he pulled out a wrapped present behind his back. I took the present and began to unwrap it. It was a framed picture of me before I was a monster, with my family. My heart ached at the sight of their smiling faces. I had almost forgotten what they looked like. I lightly ran my hand over the glass, almost hoping that my family would spring out of the picture and hug me. My throat closed up and I felt tears coming up, but I swallowed them down.

"Thank you, general," I said, looking back up at him. He smiled and nodded. "I know this whole situation has been rough on you. I wish I could do more...but I am still keeping my word. I will figure out a way to get your family to remember you again. Even if I have to hunt down John myself," he said.

With that, the general turned on his heel and left my room. "Happy Birthday, Bat," he said before leaving me to my new room.

I looked back down at the frame, then placed it down on the dresser near my bed. Next to the framed photo, I placed all the presents my friends had given me. I stared at each one as I thought back to what Monger said:

"...even if I have to hunt down John myself..."

John. The man who ruined everything. My life, my family. He took them away from me. He scarred me for life. I would never forgive him. If only I had aimed a little to the right...

I slammed my fist down on the dresser angrily. The items rattled on the surface, almost trembling in fear. I took a breath to calm down and pulled my hand back. I stared at the framed photo again. Seeing my reflection in it.

I wanted to be the one to hunt down John and take him down. He took almost everything away from me... and I wasnt going to let him do it again...

I narrowed my alien eyes and clenched my fists. I lifted my wings and gave them one flap.

My name is Bat, and I am a monster.

The End...?

* * *

 **...**

 **A/N: Thank you all who made it all the way to the end of my revised fanfic. I had a lot of fun coming back to this. It was so nostalgic for me, going back through the perspective of Bat. I hope to make this into a trilogy, but I have a couple other fanfics I need to get through first. Hope you enjoyed and tell me what you thought. Thank you again for the follows, reviews, and support.**

 **-Bat13SJx**

 **Characters: Bat, John, October, nameless soldiers**


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